Tethered to the Story We Must Tell
by Elphaba C. Snow Thropp
Summary: Starts in Harry's first year. What if Bellatrix was the youngest Black sister? What if she was in Harry's year? See how The Golden Trio gets through Hogwarts, and Voldemort, with Bellatrix's help.
1. Enchanted

Tethered to the Story We Must Tell  
Chapter 1: Enchanted

_And it was enchanting to meet you…_

Harry supposed he had friends now, the eleven year old mused as he, his two new friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and the rest of the first year Hogwarts students were ushered to the front of what Professor McGonagall had introduced as The Great Hall for sorting, whatever that meant. Luckily, he wasn't left wondering for long because Headmaster Dumbledore stood with what appeared to be a talking conical witch hat and handed it over to Professor McGonagall who had gone to stand in front of the new students.

Hermione was the first to be sorted. She was sent to Gryffindor. Draco Malfoy, a foul, blonde haired boy the trio had encountered earlier was unsurprisingly and swiftly sorted into Slytherin. A nervous redhead named Susan Bones was sorted into Hufflepuff next, and Ron was sorted into Gryffindor, much to his relief, after that. And then Harry's name was called.

With a tiny gulp, he took his place on the stool, not even noticing the way the professors at the front table nearly held their breath in anticipation. The hat was placed on his head and it considered Harry out loud for a bit before the green eyed boy chanted not to be put in Slytherin to which the hat replied that he could do great things in Slytherin. However, in the end, the Sorting Hat shouted out Gryffindor and Harry sagged in relief before joining Ron and Hermione.

"Bellatrix Black," the Scotswoman called out and there were a few silent seconds until the girl the name belonged to was able to make her way to the stool. She was a small girl, smaller than most of the other first years, and she had thin blood red lips, skin as pale as snow and curly hair as black as night that was pulled to the back of her head in a bun. She carried herself with a royal elegance that seemed much too old for her and her back was ramrod straight as she sat on the stool and the hat was placed atop her head.

Like the boy before her, the hat seemed to consider her mind. But unlike the boy before her, she and the hat were very obviously conversing with each other. The other first years could only hear bits and pieces of what they were saying, but eventually, the Sorting Hat began to call out "Raven-!"

The raven haired girl interrupted him with a loud sound of protest that came from the back of her throat. The entire room sucked in a collective breath when the hat was cut off. No one had ever stopped the Sorting Hat when it was mid-sort. However, this little Bellatrix didn't seem to care. "I believe I said Slytherin," she corrected him, primly, her voice oddly low and somehow twinkling.

After a tense moment where absolutely nothing happened, the hat just chuckled. "Slytherin!"

The newly sorted Slytherin pressed her thin lips together in amusement and walked away to her house's applauding table, not appearing to care that everyone was still looking at her when she sat down.

* * *

The first potions class Harry, Ron, and Hermione attended began with Harry being chewed out by the potions master, Professor Snape. The Boy-Who-Lived found himself sinking further into his seat and wishing he were elsewhere, until the door flew open and none other than Bellatrix Black strode into the room.

"You're late," Snape said simply.

"Perhaps," she conceded as she went to take an empty spot next to Draco.

"Care to share?" He drawled with a raised eyebrow.

"If I must," she sighed, turning in her seat to face him. "I was held up by an asshole sixth year Gryffindor who thought it would be funny to lift up my skirt to see my knickers. I then had to correct his thinking."

"And?" He prompted, ignoring the snickering coming from the other students.

"He won't be in the infirmary long," she replied, ceasing all laughter.

"Good girl," he smirked and went on with class.

Their broom riding lesson was next.

"Stick your right hand over the broom and say up," Madame Hooch instructed and the first years began to have at it. She noticed Harry Potter got his broom on the very first try as did a couple other students, including Bellatrix Black who was curiously holding her broom in her left hand. "Miss Black, I said to hold out your right hand, not your left."

"I know, but it's easier to ride with my left hand leading," the tiny girl informed her.

"Very well," the teacher let it go.

Once all the students had a hold of their brooms, she had them all mount them and hover for a few seconds before touching back down. However, Neville Longbottom, who seemed to be ridden with bad luck, had a bit of a mishap with his broom and broke his wrist. Madame Hooch took him to the infirmary and warned everyone to stay off their brooms, lest they risk expulsion.

But of course Malfoy couldn't listen and stole Neville's remembral to throw on the roof, taunting Harry the whole time. However, before Draco could mount his broom, it was snatched from his hands by Bellatrix, who told him in no uncertain terms to stop being so nasty.

The blonde boy scowled at her, but didn't try to take his broom back. Instead, he threw the remembral as hard and as far as he could toward the roof. Both Harry and Bellatrix took off to catch it. The pair flew to get it before it crashed through a classroom window. The boy caught it just in time and the girl steadied him easily, completely unaware of whose window they were hovering outside of.

When the two touched down in front of the class with the remembral, they were greeted with cheers, at least Harry was. The cheering stopped when Professor McGonagall commanded the two of them go with her.

"Seeker?" Ron almost shouted with glee an hour later when he was walking outside with Gryffindor's new Seeker. "But first years never make the house teams. You must be the youngest Quidditch player in a-"

"Century," the dark haired boy finished. "According to McGonagall."

Ron's older twin brothers, Fred and George came to congratulate him on making Gryffindor's Quidditch team. They were the team's Beaters.

"Hey, what did McGonagall do with Bellatrix Black?" Ron inquired once he and Harry split up from the twins. "She was fantastic at flying, even better than you were."

Green eyes rolled. "You know, you don't have to say her whole name every time you talk about her. And she was offered a position on Slytherin's team, but she turned it down."

"What?" The redhead couldn't believe his ears. "Why in the world would she do that?" Neither of them noticed Hermione approach them.

"I know why," she chimed in, causing both boys to turn toward her. "I heard her talking to Daphne Greengrass about it. Bellatrix declined joining Slytherin's Quidditch team because she says that she's got better ways to waste her time."

"Like what?" Ron wanted to know. "All I've ever seen her do is study."

"She runs," Harry added.

"What?" The other two questioned in unison before giving each other looks at the occurrence.

"Bellatrix. She runs late at night, after dinner," he explicated before finding himself face down in the grass. He looked up to see the object of their conversation staring down at him with an unreadable expression on her round face. As he picked himself up, he noticed that her eyes were a startling shade of purple.

"Hey, what'd you trip him for?" Ron demanded to know, appearing to be irate.

"Draco had sent a rather nasty stinging hex at your friend's back," she let him know by way of explanation.

"So you saved him," Hermione surmised.

The smaller girl looked thoughtful for a few short seconds before she slowly nodded once. "I suppose. Though, I mostly just wanted to thwart Draco's plans. I find it extremely amusing. Please, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Bellatrix Black."

"We know who you are," the bushy haired girl told her. "I'm Hermione Granger."

"Ron Weasley," the redhead of the group said.

"I'm Harry Potter," Harry smiled. "It's nice to meet you. Thank you for saving me from that hex."

"I'm charmed," she managed a small smile back. "And it wasn't any trouble. Draco should know not to point his wand at someone's back. It's dishonorable."

"But isn't he your boyfriend?" Ron blurted.

"Draco? No, of course not. He's my nephew. His mother is my older sister," she exemplified, oddly unfazed by the question.

"Your nephew?" The trio chorused.

The Slytherin brushed a stray black lock of hair from her face and nodded, her bun of curls bouncing at the force. "Yes. My nephew."

"Sorry," Ron apologized.

"For what?"

"That you're related to Malfoy," he said.

She pursed her lips as if to hold off laughter. "Yes, well. Thank you. I've got to go now."

"We'll see you around then," Harry said.

"If you're lucky," she remarked before walking away.

* * *

After their encounter with the three headed beast of a dog, the three Gryffindors rushed back to their dormitories for the night. Harry tossed around in his bed, thinking about what Hermione had said about the trapped door. What could possibly be so important that it needed to be guarded by a giant three headed dog? And why was it even in the school in the first place? Deciding not to think too hard on it, he let his thoughts drift to Bellatrix.

She really was a tiny little slip of a thing; and that was saying something as he wasn't very tall either. And up close, her hair was even wilder than his, which was probably why she was never seen with her hair out of its customary bun. Her voice was strangely deep, but with a childlike quality to it that made it very entrancing to listen to her. And she had the most enchanting violet eyes, intense yet stunning. It wouldn't be surprising to hear that someone could stare into them for hours at a time without ever getting bored.

He turned over once again, shaking his head. He needed to stop thinking about her. He had Quidditch training with Wood tomorrow.

* * *

"Would you like some help with that?" Harry found himself asking as he watched Bellatrix standing on a chair, struggling to reach a book on a shelf that was much too high for her.

The girl in question stopped reaching for the book and turned around to face him, her face pinched in a very adorable expression of displeasure. "No. I wouldn't like _any_ help, however, it seems I haven't a choice. So if you would please." She shuffled over in the chair to make room for him and waved her hand in a sweeping motion, indicating to him to get on it with her.

He hesitated before climbing up and standing right next to her. "Which book is it?"

"The one with the red spine, please," she requested.

Her warm breath on his neck caused him to shiver involuntarily as he reached up and got the book down for her. "Here you are."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter," she murmured, taking the book with the barest hint of a smile.

"You can call me Harry," the boy let her know.

"What are you two doing?" Came the irritated voice of Irma Pince as she made her way over to the pair.

Bellatrix diffused the situation fairly easily. "Harry was just getting me a book I couldn't reach, Madame Pince."

"Oh." The librarian nodded before lifting the Slytherin girl off of the chair and setting her on the ground. "Be careful then. The headmaster will have my head if you're not properly looked after, not to mention your parents."

"I'm fine," she mumbles to Madame Pince, who nods and smiles before bustling away to scold more students. Bellatrix sighed and tore out of the library without so much as a backward glance at the companion she didn't know she had until he spoke up when she was nearly halfway back to her dorm.

"Is something wrong?"

She abruptly stopped walking and turned to the dark haired wizard who very nearly ran into her back. "What did you just say?"

"I asked if something's wrong," he repeated and when she just stared at him blankly, he blushingly added, "if you don't want to tell me, that's fine."

She watched him for a long moment, letting him squirm for a bit before finally opening her mouth to speak. "Boys."

"What?"

"Boys," she said again, not hiding her amusement at having startled him so easily. "You asked me if there was something wrong and I said boys. They're fucking irritating."

"Oh," he nodded as if he understood, which being a boy himself, he did in fact understand. "Do you want to talk about it?" She seemed to consider his proposition for a moment before nodding and leading him over to an unoccupied bench. "So, what happened?"

"Some dumbshit second year boy in Slytherin stuck his tongue down my throat," she ground out through clenched teeth. "Without my permission, might I add. I almost cru… I almost used a very bad curse on him when I finally pushed him away."

"I'm sorry," he told her, having nothing better to say. "Want me to beat him up for you?" He offered, jokingly.

She laughed. "Aww. How sweet. Harry Potter, my knight in shining armor. Thank you, but I'll have to decline. I'm fairly certain that _I_ could beat you up."

"You're probably right," he chuckled. "Was that your first kiss then?"

"Mmm," she hummed in reply, a cute little smirk tugging at her lips. "I think I'll keep that to myself for now, Mr. Potter." She stood up and made to leave, but she turned back to a bemused looking Harry. "Thanks for the talk, Harry. And if you need help with any homework… well, I'm sure you'd know where to find me." And with that, she cradled her book in her arms and set off on the journey to the dungeons.

Bellatrix Black is certainly an interesting little creature, the emerald eyed boy thought to himself as he left the bench to go back to his own common room.

* * *

… _this is the very first page, not where the storyline ends._

* * *

**Review, per favore.**

**Lyrics: Enchanted by Taylor Swift**

**~Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**


	2. Monster

Tethered to the Story We Must Tell  
Chapter 2: Monster

_I'll stop the whole world from turning into a monster…_

* * *

"Honestly Ronald, what has your attention so enthralled that you can't even properly focus on your food?" The peeved voice of Hermione interrogated the redhead as he stared across the Great Hall. The two of them, along with Harry of course, entered with the intentions of getting a snack before dinner, but then Neville came along with some questions for Hermione about the Charms essay they had to write.

"Nothing," he blushed and went back to his food.

Harry chuckled at his friend. "He was staring at Bellatrix."

The bushy haired girl rolled her eyes. "Again? And just what is so fascinating about her?"

"That's what he's trying to figure out," the green eyed boy replied, amused and adjusted his glasses on his face.

"But why?" She implored, almost whining. That had become somewhat of a habit of hers whenever the subject of Bellatrix was brought up in a coversation among them.

"Isn't it obvious?" Ron nearly screeched. "Harry fancies her, of course."

Harry sighed, having heard this countless times since he relayed what had transpired betwixt him and Bellatrix in the library last month. Since then, the black haired Slytherin could've been seen walking down the hallway with Harry and whoever he happened to be walking with as well. But only on occasion. She still spent most of her time amongst her fellow Slytherins, namely her nephew and sometimes Daphne Greengrass or Blaise Zabini. "I do not fancy her, Ron."

"Yes, you do," he insisted enthusiastically. "You go all gooey eyed whenever she's around and you're always staring at each other during classes, even when you're completely across the room from her."

"Ron, why do you want Harry to fancy Bellatrix so much?" Hermione wondered quietly, looking between her two friends.

"I don't," he answered easily. "I want him to admit to it so we can get him some help."

Harry rolled his eyes, good-naturedly. "Shut up, Ron."

"Bellatrix is nice," Neville chimed in, looking up from his half finished essay. He paused and made a face. "She helps me with my homework for Snape's class sometimes. She's rather impatient, but really helpful. I actually understand most of what the greasy git is talking about now."

"Why didn't you ask me, Neville?" Hermione questioned, trying and failing not to sound as offended as she felt.

"Because Bellatrix is better at potions than you are," Ron said, matter-of-factly.

"And how would you know that?" The disgruntled girl snapped.

"She lets me borrow her notes for different classes sometimes," Harry responded. "She's a bloody genius, especially in Quirrell's class."

"Well, she _is_ a Black," the resident Weasley pointed out, stuffing a piece of bread in his mouth.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione wanted to know.

"The Blacks are one of the most ancient, noblest, _darkest_ pureblood families in the British wizarding world," Neville supplied. "My gran told me that all the Blacks are taught about the Dark Arts as soon as they're able to read. I should think Bellatrix is no exception to that, especially with the speculation going around that her uncle, Orion Black left her the Head of the House of Black after his death when she was only three years old."

"But why would he leave it to her? Wouldn't it go to her father at least?" Ron asked no one in particular. "What do you think, Neville? Do you think she's the Black heir?"

"The term is heiress in her case," Hermione corrected.

"Well, Orion Black did have two of his own sons, Sirius and Regulus Black. Regulus died some time ago and Sirius, he was the oldest between him and his brother, but he went to Azkaban just when Bellatrix was born," he paused and became thoughtful. "Then again, Cygnus Black, Bellatrix's father _could_ also be the Head like you said, Ron, but that's doubtful, otherwise he would've used his extra pull as Lord Black in the Ministry. But sometimes the Blacks seem to operate inside _and_ outside of the Ministry. Personally, I think it's completely impossible to know who the current Head of the Black family is unless one of them told you, but according to my gran, the Blacks keep more secrets better than a teenage girl's diary."

"Well, my dad says that Bellatrix and her dad are always in and out of the Ministry, but he doesn't know what for," Ron told them. "_I_ think one of them has to be the Head of the family."

"As long as it's not Malfoy," Neville mumbled, taking the opportunity to look up toward the Slytherin table to see Bellatrix getting up from her seat. She caught his eye and gave him a slight nod before heading toward the Gryffindor table. "Hey, Bellatrix is coming over here."

A messy, dark head immediately popped up and green eyes began to seek out their target. The redheaded boy saw this and pointed at Harry. "Do you see? Look at his face! He's practically bursting!"

"He is not, Ron," Hermione said, easing down Ron's raised arm.

"Hermione's right. I'm not at all bursting," said wizard remarked, keeping his eyes firmly on the approaching Black. "I've never burst in my life. I don't think I'll be starting now."

"If you've never burst before, how do you know what it does and doesn't look like, hmm?" Ron asked as if this would stump his friend and win him the argument.

Harry just fixed him with a deadpan stare. "I've seen people burst, Ron. Now would you drop it before she hears you?"

Brown eyes widened and fire colored eyebrows rose impossibly high. "You mean Bellatrix _doesn't_ know?"

"What don't I know?" The girl queried just as she approached the group. She took the seat next to Harry, causing the girl on the other side of him to scowl.

"That Harry fancies you, of course," Ron all but shouted.

The raven haired girl shook her head. "No, he doesn't. I would know if he did, but that doesn't matter. I have something I'd like to discuss with the three of you. Neville, would you mind excusing yourself?"

"Oh, sure," he nodded and gathered his things, standing up to leave. "Do you think you could…?"

"Of course," she said before he could finish his question. "Just let me know when."

"Thanks," he said gratefully before dashing off.

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" Hermione asked rather sharply.

"The trap door you encountered," Bellatrix announced simply.

"How do _you_ know about that?" Ron demanded.

"Occasionally I like to forgo my nightly runs and… explore the castle instead," she explicated easily, smoothing an errant curl behind her ear. "I came across the same creature and the same trap door that you did. Did you open it?"

"Of course not," Harry said. "We only stayed long enough not to get eaten."

She nodded, seeming satisfied with that. "When you decide to go back-"

"Go back? Go _back_? We're not going back near that beast," Ron exclaimed. "Are you out of your mind?"

"No," she shot him a sardonic smile. "I've only misplaced it, thank you very much. Now, when you decide to go back, I'd like for you to let me know."

"Why?" Harry queried, genuinely curious. "Why do you need to know if we decide to go back?"

"Wrong question, Harry," Hermione said. "Bellatrix, what makes you so certain that we'll even decide to go back?"

"I don't need to know, I would just like to know and Hermione," the other paused thoughtfully. "I suppose I don't know for certain that you're going to go back, even though what I think is and isn't certain is completely irrelevant."

"We'll see," the muggleborn said.

Bellatrix hummed in what seemed to be agreement.

* * *

"_Troll_! In the dungeon!" Came the frazzled voice of Professor Quirrell after he busted through the large doors of the Great Hall during the All Hallows Eve feast. "Troll in the dungeon!" Every head in the room turned to him and Dumbledore stood. "Though you ought to know," he murmured, and then promptly fainted.

The headmaster then loudly instructed everyone not to panic, and told the prefects to lead their respective houses back to their dormitories, while the teachers would follow him to the dungeons. His orders were of course carried out even as each Slytherin idly thought about their house's, currently unfortunate, placement in the dungeons.

On the way, Harry questioned Ron about how exactly a troll was able to get into the castle. The young Weasley informed him that it couldn't have gotten in on its own as trolls are very stupid. The duo then dashed away once they realized that Hermione, who hadn't shown up to the feast, didn't know about the troll. The two soon found the troll, out of the dungeon, and heading into the girl's bathroom.

The boys darted into the bathroom just after they hear Hermione scream.

"Hermione, move!" Harry shouted when the troll reared his club back to decimate the stalls again.

The girl screamed again, but still managed to scramble away from the creature as the two boys began throwing pieces of scattered wood at it.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?"

Harry and Ron whirled around to find none other than Bellatrix had entered the bathroom. Hermione used the distraction to crawl under one of the sinks.

"Bellatrix!"

"Help!" The Gryffindor girl cried.

"You're soddin' wizards for Merlin's sake," Bellatrix grumbled, positively annoyed as she pulled out her walnut wand and pointed it at the troll. "_Incarcerous!"_

A stream of rope shot out of her wand and wound its way tightly around the troll, immobilizing it. The club it had raised above its head came down and impacted the beast right on the top of its head, knocking it out. It great body swayed for a few moments before falling to the ground in front of the three of them.

"Cool," Ron grinned.

Hermione moved out from under the sinks to join the other three by the head of the troll. "Is it… dead?"

"I don't think so," Harry said. "Just knocked out. What was that spell you used?"

"Incarcerous. I just tied it up," Bellatrix answered, nudging the large creature with her tiny foot. "What are you doing here?"

"We were coming to warn Hermione about the troll. What are _you_ doing in here?" Ron questioned.

"Wandering," she said just as a distress McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell ran into the bathroom.

The transfiguration teacher yelped when she saw the unconscious troll and pointed at Harry, Ron, and Bellatrix. "Explain yourselves. All of you."

The boys opened their mouths to respond, but Hermione cut them off. "It's my fault professor. I went looking for the troll. I read about them and thought I could handle it, but I was wrong. If Harry and Ron hadn't come and found me... I'd probably be dead."

The two Gryffindor boys shared a confused glance before Harry's eyes travelled to Snape's leg, where he saw a rather large, bloodied bite mark. When the potions master saw where he was staring, he draped his robes over his leg and shot the boy a dark look.

"And you, Miss Black?" McGonagall asked, looking at the perfectly calm Slytherin.

"I dragged her along," Harry said suddenly, earning a raised eyebrow from Bellatrix. "Well, everyone knows she's really smart and I thought that if we came across the troll, she would be able to help us. And she did. She cast the incarcerous just before the troll could smash Hermione."

Despite their noble acts, five points was taken from Gryffindor for Hermione's "serious lack of judgment" and the other three were mildly scolded by the Scotswoman, who pointed out that not many first year students could take on a fully grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale.

This caused Bellatrix's lips to pull up in an arrogant smirk. The three professors recognized the look immediately and her thought of _Well, I _am_ a Black_ went unsaid, but not unnoticed. McGonagall went on to award Harry, Ron, and Bellatrix five points each for dumb luck. But there was no wiping that smirk of the younger girl's face.

* * *

Nothing extraordinarily interesting happened the next day until Snape approached the trio during lunch. He snidely and mockingly wished Harry luck on the upcoming Quidditch match against Slytherin before limping away.

"That explains the blood," Harry mumbled to himself, but Hermione heard him.

"What blood?" She inquired.

He then launched into an explanation of how Snape most likely let the troll into the school to distract everyone while he tried to get past the three headed dog.

"But why would anyone go near that dog?" She wanted to know.

He then began to explain about his trip with Hagrid to Gringott's before they came to Hogwart's to retrieve something out of a vault, which Hagrid expounded as Hogwart's business and how that was probably what the dog was guarding and it was probably what Snape wanted.

The subsequent Quidditch match did nothing to smother their suspicions. In the middle of the game, Harry's broom became victim of what was probably a Hurling Hex. It caused his brand new Nimbus 2000 to thrash about, bucking him off several times before Hermione was able to point out Snape as the culprit. She made her way over to his side, snuck under the bleachers, and took out her wand.

Before she could cast the spell she was preparing for however, someone cleared their throat behind and she spun to see who it was. The person she saw made her lips curl down into a frown. "What do you want?"

"Nothing," Bellatrix said airily as she passed by. "Nothing at all."

Hermione glared at her until she was out of her line of sight before she turned back to Snape. "_Lacarnum Inflamarae._" A small flame danced out of her wand and set Snape's robes ablaze. He rushed to put the fire out, ceasing his chanting, and Hermione raced back to the Gryffindor bleachers.

Harry righted himself on his broom and ended up catching the Golden Snitch, resulting in an immediate win for his house.

* * *

"We need to talk," Hermione announced when Harry came from the bathroom right after the Quidditch match.

"All right," he said. "About what?"

"I can't say. Not here," she said and led them away from the crowd of students waiting to congratulate the winners.

"Do you know what this is about?" He asked Ron, who only shrugged.

Once they were a safe distance into an empty corridor, she spoke. "I don't think Snape's the only person after whatever that dog is hiding."

"Who then?" The boys chorused.

"Bellatrix," she stated.

Harry's dark brows furrowed. "Bellatrix?"

"Think about it, Harry. She knows about the trap door as well and the dog that's guarding it. For all we know, she can open it. You didn't see any blood on her leg," she reasoned. "And she also happened to 'conveniently' show up when we were getting attacked by that troll under the guise of 'wandering'. And earlier when I set Snape's robes on fire, she was there watching me like she knew what I was going to do. Don't you think that's just a little bit suspicious?"

"It makes sense," Ron commented. "And she did ask us to tell her when we went back to the dog."

"Okay," Harry said slowly. "Even if she does want whatever's behind that door, how do we know she's not trying to get it before Snape?"

"He's the Head of Slytherin, Harry," Hermione reminded him. "How do we know she's not trying to get it _for_ him?"

The Boy Who Lived nodded, but didn't seem completely convinced. "Okay, but she's my friend. And she knows that I know about the dog and the trap door. I don't see why she wouldn't tell me about what she wants with it."

"You heard what Neville said," the red head said. "The Blacks are expert secret keepers."

* * *

… _Don't you ever wonder how we survive?_

* * *

**Review, per favore.**

**Lyrics: Monster by Paramore**

**~Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**


	3. Decode

Tethered to the Story We Must Tell  
Chapter 3: Decode

_How can I decide what's right when you're clouding up my mind?..._

* * *

Hagrid proved to be an accidental fountain of information. It turned out that he was the one who lent Fluffy, the three headed dog, to Dumbledore to guard whatever it was supposed to be guarding that Snape and possibly Bellatrix wanted. And apparently, whatever it was had to do with Dumbledore and a man named Nicholas Flammel. But who was Nicholas Flammel?

Harry didn't have too much time to find out as Christmas was quickly approaching and that was enough to distract anyone. Many of his friends were going back home for the holidays to spend it with their families while Harry couldn't even begin to imagine wanting to go back to the Dursleys for any period of time, holidays or not.

Ron, he knew, wasn't going home, oddly enough, due to a change of plans, but Hermione was. She was more than ready to see her parents again. Harry hadn't a clue what Bellatrix was doing for the holidays. Whenever he tried to bring it up, she would say something vague and noncommittal like "I suppose I should ask my parents what we're doing for the break" or "I haven't the foggiest, perhaps I should find out" or Harry's personal, scathing favorite "why are you so interested in my soddin' plans, do you wish to join me?"

Her reaction made him wonder if Ron and Hermione were right. If she was so secretive about her Holiday break plans, she was probably secretive about loads of other things as well. He had yet to question her about the trap door, though not for lack of trying. Whenever the subject was brought up, she was either pulled away by someone else, or she hadn't heard him, or she said that they'd speak about it later.

Ever since Hermione had voiced her suspicions about Bellatrix, the Slytherin girl had become more distant than usual. It was as if she knew that they were skeptical of her, but she wasn't willing to alleviate their worries. Whenever he caught her eye from across the room, she would raise one dark, slender eyebrow in somewhat of a silent challenge. Harry never knew exactly what she meant by doing that, but he was certain it had something to do with him.

A cleared throat broke through his musings. He stopped walking and glanced up. Naturally, Bellatrix was standing in front of him, but she wasn't in her normal Hogwart's attire. Instead, she was sporting a long sleeve, forest green dress. The bodice wrapped around her petite frame tightly and the skirt was left to hang loosely around her thighs. The normal black stockings that encased her legs were replaced by charcoal gray ones and her feet were covered by little dark green ballet flats. Her Slytherin scarf was wound securely around her neck and as usual, her hair was done up in a bun.

"You look good," he blurted, finally finding her violet orbs. He hardly noticed the heat that reached his cheeks at his confession; he was just oddly relieved to talk to her. The two of them hadn't had a real conversation in weeks.

She blinked, not having anticipated that reaction. A hot blush fanned across her chest and she blinked again, honestly surprised by her own reaction. "Thank you, Harry," she said softly. "I thought you'd like to know that I have learned of my plans for the break."

"Oh?"

"Yes. I'm going home to spend the holidays with my parents, my sister, my nephew, and my brother-in-law," she informed him, knowing he was curious. "And we're visiting my cousin. Or at least, I am."

He was shocked. He hadn't really expected her to tell him, especially after all the times she hand brushed him off when he brought up the subject. "Well, that sounds like fun. Except for having to be around Malfoy the whole time."

"We get along well enough," she commented with a shrug. Well enough for an aunt and a nephew who were only five months apart, but she knew better than anyone how tiresome Draco could be. "When I get tired of him, I simply retire to my bedroom. Luckily for me, he won't be going to visit my cousin with me."

"Oh, where does your cousin live?" He inquired, thankful that they were somewhat back to normal. Even if she was about to leave for a couple of weeks.

"Azkaban," she stated bluntly. "And you're staying here, correct?"

"Yes. Ron and I will be staying at Hogwarts, but Hermione is going home to her parents," Harry told her, not taking note of the way she glossed over the fact that her cousin was in Azkaban prison.

"She is muggleborn, isn't she?" She asked, but didn't let him answer. "Never mind. What do you intend to do during the break?"

He hesitated before answering. He wasn't sure if he should mention Nicholas Flammel or not. Ron and Hermione told him not to let her know anything that they knew, but he found himself reluctant to heed their advice at that moment. "I might go to the library. There are some sections of it that I haven't been to yet."

As soon as he said that, something rather peculiar happened. Bellatrix laughed. She laughed and it was a full out, deep belly laugh, unlike any other sound he'd heard from her before. To him, her laugh sounded like the leaves on a tree on particularly windy day. It sounded like that. Only more so and better. Like there was a note in her laughter that couldn't be duplicated ever by anything. It was beautiful, simply put.

She was able to reign in her apparent amusement fairly quickly, though a few giggles still seeped out. "I'm sure there are. I should think Nicholas will be happy to see you then."

"Aunt Bella! It's time to go," a voice called from further down the hallway.

She didn't turn around, knowing it was Draco; instead she examined Harry's thunderstruck face for a few seconds longer. Oh, it was such fun to catch him off guard. "I suppose I have to go now. I'll see you when I get back. And for soddin' sake, be safe."

"Wait." He didn't remember doing it or even having the urge to, but his hand was curled around her thin wrist, preventing her from leaving.

Her eyes found his and she smiled. "Yes, Harry?"

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. "Are you helping Snape?" He cursed himself for his loose tongue. He was starting to become like Hagrid.

"There's nothing to help Snape with," she said. "But if you're meaning to ask me if I'm on your side or not, then that's not a question I can answer."

"Aunt Bella!" Draco called again, but she still didn't acknowledge him.

"Why not? Why can't you tell me? Ron and Hermione-"

"Are none of my concern," she cut him off sharply. She was starting become a bit annoyed with Ron and Hermione making assumptions about her. Being in Slytherin didn't necessarily make you a horrible person just like being in Gryffindor didn't necessarily make you a great person.

"Then what is?" He wanted to know. He wasn't sure why he wanted to know, but he suddenly needed to know… _more._ "What is your concern?"

She fixed him with an unreadable stare. "Why, Harry, I thought you knew. All this time and you mean to tell me that you don't know?"

"What? What am I supposed to know?" He pled, pulling at her wrist desperately. He _had_ to know.

"Didn't you hear me calling you?" The irritated blonde had come to join them. "Potter, stop keeping my aunt up. You're making us late."

"It's fine, Draco," Bellatrix told her nephew gently, sounding almost maternal, despite her age. "Harry just has a few questions."

"Can't they wait?" Draco asked impatiently, tossing a glare the Gryffindor's way. He didn't like the idea of his aunt and his enemy becoming friends. He hadn't like it when she told him about four months ago and he didn't like now. He doubted that he ever would.

"No, they can't," Harry spoke up at last. "I have to know now."

For a few quiet moments, Bellatrix just stared at him, her violets piercing his emeralds in the most unnerving way. "Well, get on with it," Draco snapped unexpectedly, apparently having had enough of their staring.

"Go away, Draco. I'll come and get you when I'm ready," she told him through clenched teeth. She could already tell that it was going to be a long break if he was going to be a brat the whole time.

"But-" He started to protest.

"Accidents can happen, Draco," she sang with a hint of an edge to her tone. A warning. It was heeded when the blonde boy stalked off with nothing more than a glare on his face. She lent her attention back to Harry, surreptitiously peering down at his hand still on her wrist. "You were wondering about my concerns, were you not?"

"Yes. If you're not working with Snape and you're not working with us, who are you working with?" He wondered, well aware of the twinge of distress that leaked into his voice.

Her brows rose thoughtfully. "Those are two different questions entirely, Harry. Who the subject of my concern is and who I'm working with require two completely different answers."

He nearly blew out a breath through his nose in frustration. She could be so difficult sometimes. "Will you permit me those answers, then?"

"Well, I can tell you easily that I'm not working with anyone," she said. And that was true enough. She wasn't working _with_ anyone and he hadn't asked if she was _for_ anyone.

"But then why-"

"You're becoming quite liberal with your questions, Harry," she pointed out, her eyes squinting in delight. "You've only asked for the answer to two questions and I've already given you one. You don't want to be greedy do you?"

"Fine," he ground out in annoyance. "Who is your concern then?"

She thought about drawing it out just a little bit longer, if only for her own entertainment, but ultimately decided against it on the grounds that it wasn't that fun to manipulate Harry. Easy, yes. Fun, not so much. "You are."

He spluttered. "W-what?"

"I shall not repeat myself, Harry. You clearly heard what I said," she said, watching him recover from the shock.

"You're concern is _me_?" It was asked in disbelief. Why would someone like her be concerned with him? Sure they were friends and all, but still. "Why?"

"I'm afraid that information won't be volunteered," she declared, snaking her wrist out of his hold. "I've got to go. And remember what I said. Be safe."

And with that, she was off to join her prat of a nephew.

* * *

"So children, tell me, how is school?" Bellatrix's father questioned. The Black and Malfoy families were seated at the dining room table at Malfoy Manor eating dinner. Cygnus Black, an imposing figure even sitting down, was seated next to his youngest and only black haired daughter, who currently had her hands placed primly in her lap and was staring at her half eaten dinner plate.

"Good," Draco answered after a silence. "I've made a lot of friends, all Slytherin of course. But Dumbledore is joke, just like you said, Father." That comment earned him a tight lipped smile from his father and a glare from his mother.

"And you, Bella?" The girl's mother, Druella Black, looked at her silent child. "How is school going for you?"

"Excellent," she said dully, still staring at her plate.

"She's made friends with Harry Potter," Draco announced, throwing a smug glance in his aunt's direction.

"Have you?" The question came from Lucius Malfoy at the head of the table. The conversation just became _much_ more interesting.

"You would do well to mind your own damn business, Draco and stop sharing mine with the whole of Britain," Bellatrix said calmly, but the threat was still evident in her words. "Who I have and have not made friends with is no one's concern, but my own. Besides, you're just a sour puss because he saw you for the little bleeder you are and turned down your offer of friendship."

"Shut up, you slag!" The blonde shouted and chucked his roll of bread at her, hitting her square in the chest.

"Draco Malfoy!" Narcissa admonished, appalled by her son's behavior.

"It's okay, Cissy," Bellatrix assured her before a gust of wind knocked her nephew clean out of his chair. "He's just annoyed because he's finally admitted to himself that I'm better than him." She then looked at the boy on the floor. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, you know."

Cygnus stifled a laugh, while Lucius scowled. "That was quite a show of _accidental_ magic, Little Baby Bella." She only nodded, choosing for the moment not to acknowledge him any further. "So, tell us about Mr. Potter."

She smirked and sat back in her chair. "No, I don't think I shall. I'd rather like to keep him all to myself while I can. He and his Gryffindor qualities are very fascinating. How about you let Draco tell you all about pug-faced Pansy Parkinson, hmm?"

"She does not look like a pug," the red faced blonde protested, having already righted himself back in his chair. "You're just angry because she's prettier than you are."

Bellatrix snorted. "I'm sure she is... in whatever realm of delusion you seem to operate in."

"Bella, finish your dinner, dear," Druella commanded gently, if only to stop the bickering. "Before it gets cold."

"I am finished," she told her mother.

"What? You've barely eaten half," Narcissa pointed out, her brows furrowed in worry.

"Well, I'm full so I won't eat anymore lest I make myself sick, which I'm sure none of us would be fond of," she said, pushing her plate away for emphasis.

"You've been eating properly at school, haven't you?" Her sister asked. She knew her little sister would read straight through lunch and dinner if she could.

"I eat properly," she confirmed, wanting nothing more than to change the subject. "Are you coming to see Sirius with me this time?"

Narcissa shook her head. "No, I don't think so. Maybe Draco will want to accompany you."

"Not bloody likely," she snorted. "Draco's afraid of his own shadow. He'd never hold up in a place like Azkaban. I'll just go alone."

"Why are you two so antagonistic toward each other?" Her mother wanted to know.

The blonde boy stared at his grandmother, incredulous. How did she _not_ know that she had birthed the spawn of the devil? "Because Bellatrix is _evil_!"

The curly haired girl just nodded. "And Draco is mediocre."

* * *

Christmas for Harry was both a rare treat and very useful. He had never gotten presents before and now he had a sweater from Ron's mother, his father's old invisibility cloak, and he'd even gotten a letter from Bellatrix telling him Happy Christmas, but that was all it said. He didn't care though, he was just happy she sent it in the first place. He sent one back saying the same and nothing more as well, if only to keep himself from telling her about his search for information on Nicholas Flammel.

The search in the restricted section of the library did not go as planned, especially not after nearly being caught by Filch and then Snape. He had to race back to his room to avoid being caught, his heart pounding in his chest the entire time. However, instead of getting back to his dorm, he stumbled across another room with an interesting mirror. When he looked in the mirror, he saw his parents behind him, smiling proudly.

He ran back to his room in a flurry of excitement, under the protection of his new cloak, to get Ron. He absolutely _had_ to see this mirror. He brought his best friend to the mirror to see if the redhead could see his parents too, but he didn't. Ron saw himself as Head Boy, holding the Quidditch Cup, and captain of the Quidditch team. And apparently, he looked _good_. Harry was disappointed by this turn of events so he and Ron went back to bed. But he came back the next night and sat in front of the mirror, wondering.

What was the point of it?

The boy was in for a surprise when the headmaster showed up and told him that the mirror was called the Mirror of Erised. He also learned that the mirror showed one's deepest desires, which explained why he saw is parents and Ron saw himself as Head Boy and all that other stuff. But Dumbledore warned him that men had gone mad, wasting away their lives looking that mirror, dwelling on what couldn't be. So it was being moved to a different location so as not to tempt him or any other students who may have came upon it.

He was slightly disheartened by the turn of events, but he understood.

For the remainder of the break his thoughts were on his last conversation with Bellatrix. He knew they were friends, but why would she be getting involved in all of this just because of him? He was just Harry. He also failed to understand why she was friends with him in the first place. She was a Slytherin, through and through, even more so than Malfoy. That much was obvious. So the odds of them being friends in the first place had to be less than slim.

Though of course knowing what he knew about Bellatrix, there was always the chance that their friendship was nothing short of planned. She did say herself that Ron and Hermione were none of her concern, only he was. Ugh, why did she have to be so confusing? How could one eleven-year-old girl be so complex? How could she be the cause of so much of Harry's inner turmoil? Why did Bellatrix Black have to come into his life?

* * *

"Father! Bella got a letter from Potter!" The voice of Draco Malfoy carried down the hallway to his parents' bedroom from where he stood outside of Bellatrix's room.

"No, I didn't, you nosy little bastard!" Bellatrix shouted and ran out into the hallway at the same time as her sister and brother-in-law. Only she didn't stop, she kept running and tackled her nephew to the ground, delivering a swift punch to his eye. It didn't matter that she was lying and he was telling the truth.

Narcissa's eyes widened. "Bellatrix Callidora Black!"

Druella emerged from her and her husband's designated room. "What's all this shoutin… Bellatrix!"

"When I say stay out of my soddin' business, STAY OUT OF IT!"She screamed furiously at her cowering nephew. She raised her fist back as if to punch him again and he flinched, hard. She sneered at him. "Coward."

"What the hell are you doing to my son?" Narcissa demanded, loudly, picking Draco up off the floor and holding him to her. "Look what you've done to his eye!"

"Narcissa, please stop screeching," Druella requested with a sigh. This was a familiar sight.

"If you'd teach him to value other people's privacy, he and I would have fewer problems," Bellatrix stated, having calmed down. One day Draco was just going to go one step too far and she would do something she might not regret.

"Or perhaps you could learn to control your little temper," Lucius spoke up, bitingly.

"Or perhaps," she said, icily. "_You _would like to have a ferret for a son." Instead of listening to what he had to say next, she turned back to his son, who was still being coddled by his mother. "I will not give out anymore warnings, Draco."

xXx

Bellatrix frowned at the two Aurors flanking her. Sometimes she hated coming to Azkaban. She hated being escorted everywhere and she absolutely hated Aurors. She hated how they walked around as if they actually had authority. Well, she knew a few secrets about the Ministry that they didn't and in her opinion, Aurors were nothing more than a joke.

She was jolted out of her thoughts by a gruff voice. "Name?"

"Nymphadora Tonks."

"How are you doing, Tonks? How's your Auror training-" Bellatrix was barely able to suppress a scoff and settled for rolling her eyes. "- going? Are you here to see Sirius again?"

"Of course," came the bubbly voice of the young, pink haired woman in front of her. "And I'm great, but Auror training is grueling, especially with Mad-Eye.

Who was this woman and why was she going to see her cousin?

"Name?"

The young girl frowned at the woman who had started to walk away, but address the Auror behind the window she was standing in front of. "Bellatrix Black."

The woman stopped walking and turned to see the eleven-year-old staring at her. The Aurors standing guard watched the two of them.

"And who are you here to see?"

Bellatrix didn't take her eyes off the pink haired Auror-in-training as she responded. "Sirius Black."

"Then you can follow Miss Tonks."

The little witch nodded and walked toward the stunned woman. "Nymphadora Tonks, if my two second memory serves correct."

"Yes, but you can just call me Tonks," Tonks confirmed and they followed two Auror guards to the room where they would be talking to Sirius in. "You're a Black."

"Hmm," she hummed in verification.

"But how? Are you from another country?" She was unaware, but her hair was changing colors due to her confusion.

"No, I'm from London. As for the how, my father is a Black, therefore, I am a Black," Bellatrix exemplified patiently, though she was puzzled as to why this Nymphadora Tonks woman was so curious about her lineage.

"You have one hour," one Auror let them know, opening the door to a dimly lit and scarcely furnished room. It was equipped by two unevenly spaced overhead lights, one scrap of a table and a few unsteady-looking chairs.

"We'll go get the prisoner," the second Auror declared and the two guards exited the room, temporarily leaving the two females to their own devices.

"How old are you?" Tonks inquired, dispelling the uncomfortable –at least for her, silence that had descended over the two of them.

Bellatrix gave her a strange look that seemed to say 'why do you care?' "I'm eleven. How old are you?"

"I'm eighteen," she answered. "I just graduated from Hogwarts and now I'm training to be an Auror."

"So I heard," the pureblood girl murmured disinterestedly.

"You probably go to Hogwarts don't you? First year?" Tonks wondered curiously, not noticing or ignoring the younger girl's tone. Bellatrix nodded. "Oh, that's cool. What house are you in?"

"Slytherin," she said. "And let me guess, you were in Hufflepuff."

Tonks was surprised. "How did you know that?"

Bellatrix shot her a sideways glance. "I can tell."

Before Tonks could even open her mouth to reply, the door to the tiny room was opened and an Auror shoved a dirty, but beaming Sirius Black into the room. The door was slammed shortly after.

"Bella," he grinned, sweeping her small frame up into a hug.

"Have you still not tired of this ritual?" She queried, feigning annoyance, but wrapping her arms around him and melting into the embrace anyway.

"Never," he chirped with a roguish smirk.

"Sirius," Tonks breathed in astonishment. "Is she your daughter?"

"What?" The two Blacks nearly shouted in horror.

"Of course! It explains more why you ran away and she's eleven, which means she would've been born just before you were sent here and she says that her father is a Black and she looks like you." The now blue haired woman bounced up and down in excitement, then smacked Sirius on his arm. "Why didn't you tell me you had a daughter?"

"Because he doesn't have a daughter," Bellatrix told her, pulling away from the convict.

"What? But then who are you?" By this point, someone might as well have hit Tonks with a confundus charm. She was so beyond the point of confusion.

"I'm Bellatrix Black. I thought we'd established this," the girl muttered irritably. What the hell was even going on?

Sirius stared at the two of them in disbelief. "Wait. You two don't know each other?"

"No. Why would I know her? _Should_ I know her?" She asked, eyeing the young woman. What help could_ she_ possibly be? She was training to be an Auror, for soddin' sake.

"Bellatrix Black, I'd like you to meet Nymphadora Tonks, the daughter of Ted and Andromeda Tonks," Sirius announced, watching the emotions fly across his young cousin's face.

Finally, after a long silence, violet eyes found Tonks and narrowed. "So you're the little half-blood that Andromeda spawned. She doesn't look like much, Sirius, though if she does succeed in becoming an Auror, she could prove useful."

"Hey!" Tonks cried in indignation. Who the hell was this tiny person passing judgment on someone she didn't even know?

"I know. I'm just surprised you two didn't even know about each other," he mused. "Though, I suppose Andy stopped keeping up with us after she married Ted."

"Which is rather rude if you think about it," Bellatrix commented, sounding almost idle. "She's the one who left to marry some muggleborn. The least she could've done is check in with you to find out at least a bit of what was going on."

"The Blacks turned their backs on my mother. They disowned her!" Tonks objected angrily.

"To be fair, your mother turned her back on our family first. One could call her blood traitor," she stated with the same easy tone she took when she said something that could be construed as offensive. "However, I don't particularly believe in that word, so I won't, nor do I know your mother. But I would like to point out that that is through no fault of mine. Mother and Father completely refuse to even talk about her."

"Who even are you?" Tonks yelled in frustration.

Bellatrix regarded her with something akin to nonchalance. "My parents are Cygnus and Druella Black. I'm the younger sister to both Andromeda _Tonks_ and Narcissa Malfoy, cousin of Sirius Black, and aunt to Draco Malfoy… and I suppose you as well."

"_What_?"

Bellatrix frowned at the shock-filled question. "I will not repeat myself."

Her newfound niece glared at her. She was a snarky little thing, that was for sure. "Cygnus and Druella Black had another child?"

"Yes," Sirius stepped in before his cousin was able to say something about Tonks being hard of hearing. "They did. From what she's told me, it was a very big surprise to everyone, but of course a blessing."

"Well, what is she doing here?" Tonks wanted to know. "I would've thought the other Blacks would've wanted nothing to do with you."

"Oh, they don't," the tiny Black girl validated a little louder than was strictly necessary. She was still in the room after all. "But it is common knowledge that his evil beast of a mother was very liberal in regards to blasting people off the family tapestry. And I'm here because when I was five years old and I was told about Sirius, I asked my parents if I could come and see him and when they said no, I threw a temper tantrum that destroyed our kitchen. So here I am."

"All right, all right, enough of that. Tell me how Harry is," Sirius said with a smile. Finally, some information about his godson after all these years.

* * *

… _the truth is hiding in your eyes and it's boiling in my blood._

* * *

**I would really appreciate it if you guys would review because it motivates me to write more and get chapters out faster. It also makes me feel good. So…**

**Review, per favore.**

**Lyrics: Decode by Paramore**

**~Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**


	4. Follow If You Lead

Tethered to the Story We Must Tell  
Chapter 4: Follow If You Lead

_In this jury, there are peddlers and disbelievers…_

* * *

"Come on, Harry!" Bellatrix shouted over her shoulder at the winded first year Seeker struggling to keep up behind her. She had finally gotten him to go running with her, after much debate of course. And she was glad he finally agreed because he was woefully out of shape. "Keep up!"

"I can't!" He shouted back in between his panting. Why in the world did he agree to do this? It was torture. Pure torture. His lungs started stinging before they even got half way around the castle... the first time. He was sure they were going to burst any second. "You're going too fast!"

"I'm not at all! Come on!" She encouraged him, pointing toward a large tree several yards ahead of her, where they'd started. "Just get back to the tree and we'll be done!"

"Fine." He groaned inwardly as he watched her effortlessly sprint the last distance to the tree. Why couldn't he just lay down where he was and have her drag him the rest of the way to the tree? He wasn't sure he was going to make it any longer.

"You're almost there, Harry!" Bellatrix cheered him on with no real eagerness and he didn't mind. He couldn't really see her as a cheerleader anyway.

When he finally reached the tree she was standing next to, he face planted on the ground and rolled over on his back, willing the air into his more than worn out body. "Never again."

"Oh, it wasn't that bad," she laughed at his deadpan expression as she handed him the water bottle in her hand. "It won't be so terrible by the end of the week, though I will admit that it will take some time until you're at my level."

His eyes widened drastically as she spoke. "The end of the week! Are you out of your mind? I'm never running with you again."

"Yes, you are," she told him, sitting down next to him in a criss cross applesauce position. "You have to train your body."

"Why?" He whined.

"Because it's good for you. It strengthens your immune system," she said, picking at the grass by her ankles. "Besides, as much as I like running alone, running with you is more enjoyable and it makes me look better since you're so out of shape."

"And the real reason is revealed," he teased, grinning.

"Shut up," she chuckled, throwing a few blades of grass at him playfully. After her little confession before winter break, things were easier, less strained between them. Despite the fact that she still refused to tell him why he was her only concern, he had relaxed around her much more than before. She couldn't say the same for his friends, not that she minded much.

"Can I ask you something?"

She smirked. "You just did, but I'm feeling generous. Go ahead."

He sent a mock glare in her direction. "You know Hermione doesn't like you, don't you?"

"Yes," she smiled. She thought it was funny that the muggleborn girl didn't like her. It wasn't like she really cared, either. She didn't need to be liked, especially not by someone like Hermione Granger. "And I know why. She doesn't like that I'm the top student in our class and she is not."

"And you don't care that she doesn't like you at all?" He wondered curiously. It would probably be more helpful if the two of them got along, if only for his sake.

"No. Why should I?" As far as she was concerned, Harry's other female friend could hate her guts and she still wouldn't care.

"I guess I just want you two to at least get along," he said.

She made a displeased face as if he'd just suggested that she kiss Draco on the mouth. "Why ever would I want to get along with her?"

"Because you're both my friends and I would like for all of my friends to get along," he expounded simply, gazing up at her to see her looking back at him. He silently marveled at how the setting sunlight hit her violet eyes in a way that made them resemble what he thought jewels would look like. Big, pretty, sparkling, lilac jewels.

"Well, she's the one that doesn't like me. Should you be talking to her about this? I'm not the one with the attitude," she reasoned, just short of sounding indignant. "At least, not to her anyway."

"That's true," he agreed, finding himself unable to take his eyes away from hers. "You also haven't made any effort to befriend her either."

She frowned. "I don't want to be friends with someone who's jealous that I'm more intelligent than they are. And I've never had a reason to be her friend. Our personalities don't click very well. She's too much of a rule follower."

"Well, I've never seen _you_ get into trouble," he said.

Her lip curled up into a barely concealed smirk. "That's because I don't get caught." She glanced forward and saw a familiar figure approaching them, and looking none too pleased. "Oh, what does he want?" She asked in exasperation.

Harry looked up as well, recognizing the figure as well. "I don't know. I thought he was your boyfriend."

Her face screwed up in confusion and distaste. "What on earth made you think that?"

He shrugged, cursing the way his cheeks flushed pink. "Well, you let him kiss you so I just thought you two were… together or something."

"It's more like 'or something.' Just because I let him kiss me doesn't mean he's my boyfriend," she let him know, her expression wry. Why did everyone seem to think he was her boyfriend? She didn't even want a boyfriend, especially with the year ending soon. And she had only just turned twelve, for soddin' sake.

"Then why do you let him kiss you?" He inquired, watching the way her face shifted away from a scowl toward a more unreadable look. It did that frequently.

"Because he asked," she said succinctly. "And it's not an altogether unpleasant experience and he's not horrible to look at either," she added, almost unwillingly when the subject of their conversation reached them. "Hello, Blaise."

"Bella," he said by way of greeting, but made no move to acknowledge Harry. "I see you've finished your run."

She nodded and looked him up and down. "I see you've finished your… whatever it is you were doing before you arrived over here. Is there something you need from me?"

"Come back to the common room with me." His smile was oddly charming for a twelve-year-old. "Pansy's telling stories again."

Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "Pansy Parkinson's stories are comparable to watching paint dry; completely and dreadfully boring."

His dark eyes twinkled now. "I didn't say we were going to listen to her."

"Ah," she said in realization, though in truth, she knew what he wanted the minute he opened his mouth. She just wasn't going to give it to him. "No, thank you. I'd rather stay here."

His dark brows furrowed in bewilderment. "Stay here? What for? There's nothing out here."

She sent him a look that could only be described as her patented "are you fucking kidding me?" look. "Harry's here."

He flicked his eyes in the other boy's direction. "So what?"

"So," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'd rather stay here." Blaise's face blanked in incomprehension. "With Harry." His face still didn't move. "Without you." When he still didn't say anything, she frowned. "I'd rather be with Harry than be with you."

That finally got a reaction out of him. "What?" He yelled. "Why would you rather spend time with _him_? He's a half-blood! And I'm your boyfriend."

"No, you're not," she told him because apparently he thought he was her boyfriend as well.

"Wh- yes, I am! You kissed me!" He shouted angrily.

"Actually, you kissed me," she corrected softly, unperturbed by his anger. "Several times. I've never kissed you before. I've only ever kissed you back. But that's just semantics. Letting you kiss me doesn't mean that you're my boyfriend. First off, you never asked me to be my boyfriend. Secondly, I don't want a boyfriend."

"But-but-but I thought you liked me," he frowned, his expression crumbling slightly.

"I do like you, Blaise," she told him with a nod. "I just don't like you in the way that I think you like me. And there's nothing wrong with that. I don't like anyone in that way." She was mentally patting herself on the back. She had basically used the "it's not you, it's me" line without ever actually using the words. Damn, she was good. "You can still kiss me if you want."

The dark skinned boy stared at her incredulously. "Piss off," he sneered before stomping away.

"I'll see you later then," she called after him, waving her hand casually, trying her hardest to stave off her bubbling laughter. She glanced over at Harry who was shaking with his hands covering his face. "What are you laughing at?"

That did it for the dark haired boy, who burst out in audible laughter. "Don't make me laugh. It hurts too much."

* * *

"How could I be so _stupid_?" Hermione wondered out loud as she slammed a large book down in front Harry and Ron.

"That's easy," Bellatrix chuckled good-naturedly, approaching the group and sitting down next to Harry.

Hermione glared at her, but continued on as if she hadn't heard the comment. "I checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

Ron raised his eyebrows at the size of the book. "_This _is light?"

She frowned at him before looking down at the book. "Ah, yes. Here is it. Nicholas Flammel-"

"Is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone," Bellatrix finished.

"How do you know that?" Ron interrogated, narrowing his eyes at her. Hermione was right. Bellatrix was a suspicious character to have around all the time.

"The Philosopher's Stone produces the elixir of life, which will make the drinker immortal," she informed them without answering his question. Honestly, if all they were going to do was ask pointless questions, why did she even bother?

"She's right. It's right here," the other girl admitted begrudgingly. She was getting sick of Bellatrix always doing that. "The only stone in existence currently belongs to Mr. Nicholas Flammel, the noted alchemist who last year celebrated his 665th birthday."

"So now you know. That's what's under the trap door on the third floor," Bellatrix nearly groaned in triumph. It took them long enough. "Finally, I thought you'd never figure it out."

"And just how is it that you seem to know everything, Bellatrix?" Hermione asked, not even trying to hide the disdain in her voice.

"I read," the raven haired girl shrugged, causing the muggleborn to gape at her. "Oh Harry, I should've asked you months ago, but did you like the card I sent you?"

The boy in question nodded enthusiastically. "It was unexpected and short, but I'm glad you sent it. Did you like mine?"

"Yes," she smirked, remembering what happened when she had received his reply. "It caused quite a commotion at my sister's house."

"What happened?" He inquired.

She huffed, remembering the how Draco had basically screamed out that Harry had sent her letter. "My nephew has issues with invading my privacy. When he saw me reading the letter, he yelled it to the whole of the house so I jumped on him and punched him in the eye."

"You're the one who blacked Malfoy's eye?" Ron questioned loudly, earning him a glare from Madame Pince. He sheepishly sent her an apologetic smile and lowered himself in his seat. "It didn't go away for a whole month."

She shrugged. "I did. I have a bit of a temper," she confessed, leaning forward to look at the book Hermione had. "But that's not all I did over the break. I met my eighteen-year-old niece for the first time."

"You have a niece that's eighteen years old?" Harry asked. He didn't know Malfoy had an older sister. He was sure the pureblood prat would've mentioned her before.

"Indeed. I have an older sister, older than Narcissa, named Andromeda who left home way before I was born to marry some muggleborn named Ted Tonks and they had a little half-blood daughter, who is my niece," she explained with no inflection in her tone, giving away none of her feelings on the matter. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that her sister was still alive. From the way her parents and Cissy avoided even mentioning her she just assumed that Andromeda was dead. "She just graduated from here and she was in Hufflepuff."

"So you just met a long lost relative. That's heavy," Ron said. "How did you meet her?"

"Through a mutual acquaintance a couple of months ago," she replied vaguely.

Hermione narrowed her at eyes at Bellatrix, not quite believing her. How could she have a mutual acquaintance with an eighteen-year-old? That didn't seem very likely in her opinion. "As fascinating as that is, what are we going to do about the Philosopher's Stone?"

"I suppose we ought to go talk to Hagrid," Harry suggested, glancing at Bellatrix who didn't look back at him, but nodded once.

"Why Hagrid?" Ron wanted to know.

"Because Fluffy is Hagrid's dog. If we want to get past it, we have to know how and I'll bet you anything that Hagrid knows just the way to do it," Hermione answered excitedly, thankful that she thought she knew something that Bellatrix didn't. "We'll go tonight after everyone's asleep."

"Are you coming?" Harry asked Bellatrix, who looked up at him this time.

"Ah… no. I have some business to attend to," she told him.

"Are you really twelve?" Ron queried, staring at her through squinted muddy brown eyes. She always went about as if she was an adult and he wouldn't have been surprised if she really was one. "You don't act like you're twelve."

"No. I'm thirty six," she answered cheekily as if she had read his thoughts.

* * *

Detention was completely unlike any other thing Harry had experienced ever. He'd almost been killed! All because Malfoy was spying on them and couldn't keep his mouth shut. Bellatrix was right; he did have issues respecting other people's privacy. The stupid little bleeder. He didn't stop to think that if he told on them that he would get in trouble as well for being out of bed after curfew. No wonder Bellatrix had punched him.

But anyway, at least he could say he'd been in the Dark Forest, encountered Voldemort, was saved by a centaur and came out alive. Not many, if any, could boast about that. He could also tease Malfoy endlessly about running away screaming like a little girl. That was priceless, but it was only humorous after the fact. That was the only upside to being paired with Malfoy in the Dark Forest. The rest of the time, the blonde had complained extensively about how what they were doing was servants' work and how his "father will hear about this." He even tried to tell him to keep away from Bellatrix.

"And one more thing, Potter. I want you to stay away from my aunt," he'd growled.

"Even if I did, Malfoy, I have no doubt that you know that if Bellatrix wants something, she'll get it. If she wants to be my friend, I'm in no position to stop her." Harry had enjoyed the way, even in the darkness, he could see Malfoy's face become red with anger.

"She's crazy, you know," the Slytherin boy had blurted angrily. "She sees a therapist and everything. She can't control her anger and she goes into violent rages when she's angry."

"I know," he'd half lied. He knew she had a temper problem, but she didn't know she went to a therapist. After hearing it, he wanted to ask her about it, but he doubted that conversation would've gone over very well. "I don't care. She's still my friend and I don't think she'd appreciate you telling her business. You don't want to get another black eye, do you?" After he'd said that, he had sped up in front of Malfoy with a self satisfied grin on his face.

And he couldn't say that the trip to the Dark Forest was all for nothing. He figured out that Voldemort was after the Philosopher's Stone to become immortal. It then finally clicked when he thought back to when Bellatrix said that there was nothing for her to help Snape with, except he wasn't entirely convinced that Snape wasn't after it also. Thinking about it, Snape was probably after the Stone _for_ Voldemort.

He relayed all this to Ron and Hermione in the Gryffindor common room when they were alone and they concluded that as long as Dumbledore was around, nothing could happen to Harry.

"Okay, so You-Know-Who can't get to Harry as long as Dumbledore's around, but what about Bellatrix?" Ron brought up an excellent point, Hermione considered.

"You're right," she exclaimed in a whisper so no one could hear them in passing. "Harry, you've got to stay away from her. We all have to."

"Bellatrix isn't working for Snape or Voldemort," Harry informed them rather matter-of-factly. He supposed he ought to tell them that Bellatrix was on their side, sort of. If only to get them to stop being so suspicious about her.

"We don't know that, Harry," she reasoned, her mouth downturned in a frown. "For all we know, she could've told Malfoy that we were going to see Hagrid so he could rat us out. She could've orchestrated the whole thing to get you killed!"

"But she didn't," he said simply.

"How do you know?" Ron asked with genuine curiosity. He could see that Harry was completely calm about the scenario. He obviously knew something about Bellatrix that they didn't, which wasn't much of a long shot. Neither he nor Hermione even spoke to her unless Harry was with them.

"I've got something to tell you," the green eyed boy disclosed, shifting in his seat. "I ran into Bellatrix before the break and I asked her about her helping Snape get the Stone and she said she wasn't. She said the only reason she was involved in all of this was because of me."

"You?" His friends chorused in astonishment.

"Yeah. She said that I'm her only concern," he told them, still in awe of the fact himself and the other two could tell by the tone of his voice. "She's doing all of this to protect me, I guess. That's why she knew about Fluffy and the trap door, that's why she was there when we faced off with the troll, that's why she knew about the Philosopher's Stone, and that's probably why we ever became friends in the first place."

"So you mean to tell me that Bellatrix Black, currently the youngest member of one of the most prominent pureblood families in Britain and possibly the world, wants to protect you?" The redhead certainly had a way of putting things.

"Yes," Harry said with a nod.

"How do you know she's not lying?" Hermione questioned, not at all convinced that Bellatrix was on their side. She was a Slytherin after all.

"Because I trust her," he stated resolutely. And he was surprised to find that he meant that.

"Okay, let's say that she is protecting you-" Ron began.

"She is," he interrupted.

"-why would someone like Bellatrix want to protect someone like you? No offense, mate."

"None taken. And I don't know. I've been asking myself the same question. I want to ask her, but I don't want to seem ungrateful or anything. Maybe when all of this is over, she'll tell me," he said hopefully. It would really answer a lot of the questions he had about her, he was sure.

Exams, at least for Ron, were horrifically difficult. They were a bit hard for Harry, but not really since he had studied with Bellatrix. Hermione had somehow enjoyed them and Bellatrix had been the first person done with hers out of all of the first years. It was clear why the Sorting Hat had meant to put her in Ravenclaw house before she told it to put her into Slytherin. Walking with Ron and Hermione from their exams, he was brought out of his thoughts when his scar started to burn, more intensely than it ever had before. It meant that danger was coming, he was sure.

He was further distracted when he heard music. He looked over and saw Hagrid at his hut sitting on his steps playing some kind of flute-like instrument, probably playing a lament to Norbert, the baby dragon he had to give up. Thinking on it, it was a bit odd that the one thing that Hagrid wanted was a dragon and then someone showed up who happened to be carrying around a dragon's egg in his pocket.

That was it!

Voldemort had to have given that dragon egg to Hagrid for information about Fluffy, which was exactly what the three of them got from him as well. To calm Fluffy, all they had to play music and he'd go right to sleep.

They had to tell Dumbledore. If Voldemort knew, he probably told Snape who was actually able to get the Stone. The three of them sprinted to McGonagall's office to get her to take them to the headmaster. Unfortunately, she informed them that he was in London at the Ministry so as acting headmistress they told her that someone was going to try to steal the Philosopher's Stone. She of course dismissed them, telling them that it was perfectly safe.

And who did they run into after exiting her office, but Professor Snape, who proceeded to intimidate them, until Hermione was reduced to stuttering. It was only then that he walked away just as Bellatrix approached them.

"Harry," she breathed with something like relief coloring her tone. She didn't break her stride as she embraced him in an uncharacteristic hug. No, she didn't normally hug people, but she was unnervingly worried after Draco told her what happened in the Dark Forest.

"Yes. Hi. Is something wrong?" He inquired, once she pulled away from him. She had never hugged him before. It was strangely pleasant.

"No, of course not," she retorted softly, shaking her head as if to clear it. She couldn't believe that she just hugged him. Yes, she was worried, but that didn't mean she had to hug him. She would have to keep herself in check better next time. "I just… Draco told me what happened in the Dark Forest and I was concerned. Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. A centaur named Firenze saved me," he assured her, wondering just how much Draco told her about that night. "But we've found out that Snape's going to try to steal the Philosopher's Stone for Voldemort to give him his strength back and so he can be immortal."

She considered this and regarded the other two Gryffindor's who were staring at her oddly. "And I suppose you're going to try to get to the Stone first then."

He nodded, determination shining in his green orbs. "Tonight."

She took a deep breath, knowing what she had to do. "All right, Harry. I'd like to talk to you alone, please."

"Sure," he concede, inclining his head toward Ron and Hermione, who nodded and walked away. "What is it?" He prompted when he noticed her fidgeting with the edge of her skirt. She never fidgeted.

"You know," was all she said.

"I know?" He was puzzled.

"Draco told you that I go to therapist for my anger," she elaborated quietly. She wasn't ashamed or anything and she certainly didn't care what anyone thought of her, but by Morgana, she couldn't stand people knowing her business before she was willing to tell them. Especially that little tidbit of information.

"Yeah, but I don't care," he told her. And he really didn't. She was still Bellatrix.

"Yes, I figured that," she rolled her eyes. She would've been able to tell if he was disturbed by the news. "But you have questions, am I correct?"

"Well…" he said slowly, bearing in mind his next words. He didn't want to offend her. "Yes, but I didn't want to ask in case it was a sensitive subject. I thought it would be rude to ask. I was actually prepared to completely forget it because I thought if you ever wanted me to know, you would've told me yourself."

"How considerate of you," she pointed out, tilting her head to the side as she studied him. Harry Potter was a right strange character, he was. He was so nice; it was almost nauseating, but weirdly endearing. "I've had anger problems since before I can remember and I've been going to my therapist since before I can remember as well. She says I have additional issues that may or may not stem from my anger. But I control it all very well because I don't get angry very often. I get annoyed, mildly irritated and completely frustrated, but I don't generally get outright angry."

He wasn't sure what to say. He guessed that the information was supposed to change his view of her and in a way it did. She was stronger than he gave her credit for if she went through her whole life cautious of getting angry because she couldn't control her fury. He couldn't even imagine going through that, mainly because it was common knowledge that Bellatrix had a monumental temper to rival all tempers.

"I'm sorry you have to go through that," he finally said.

She waved him off. "It's not so bad. I'm used to it, besides my mother's my therapist so she knows exactly how to handle me. Now that that's out of the way, do you have a plan for tonight?"

"No, not really," he replied sheepishly.

"I thought not. You can't really plan much anyway since you don't know what's after you get past the trap door. You do know how to get passed the dog, don't you?" She questioned.

"Yes," he said.

She nodded. "That's good. Just be careful."

He was about to open his mouth to reassure her, but a thought occurred to him. He studied her face intently. "Won't you be there? I find it hard to believe that you'd be sitting this one out."

Her smirk was the only answer he received.

* * *

The trio snuck out that night, but were held up only momentarily by Neville. He wanted to stop them so they couldn't get Gryffindor into trouble again, but Hermione used a well placed _Petrificus Totalus_, a full body biding curse, and they quickly left the dormitories.

They quietly crept down the corridors, under Harry's invisibility, making their way to the third floor. They entered Fluffy's room, but stopped in their collective tracks at the sight before them.

* * *

_But it's your gravity, your hot air balloon that keeps your real and dares to dream with you._

* * *

**Review, per favore. I really appreciate it.**

**Lyrics: Follow If You Lead by Idina Menzel (only the best woman ever)**

**I strongly recommend you go and listen to that song. It's fantastic.**

**~Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**


	5. Eyes On Fire

Tethered to the Story We Must Tell  
Chapter 5: Eyes on Fire

_I'll seek you out, flay you alive. One more word and you won't survive._

* * *

They quietly crept down the corridors, under Harry's invisibility cloak, making their way to the third floor. They entered Fluffy's room, but stopped in their collective tracks at the sight before them. A sight they were not at all expecting.

It was Bellatrix. And she was singing.

"… _cage has many rooms damask and dark. Nothing there sings, not even my lark. Larks never will, you know, when they're captive…"_ her high pitched trill slowly faded into silence and only then did trio notice that Fluffy was sound asleep and snoring something awful. That detail was swiftly overlooked when a whistle caught their attention. Bellatrix was standing by the trap door with the lid pulled back. "By all means, move at a glacial place. You know how that pleases me," she drawled with a raised eyebrow.

Harry was the first to move. He stepped beside her and looked down the hole, holding his hand out to her. "Together?"

He was scared, she could tell and for some reason, she thought it was cute. How she found fear cute was beyond her. She wasn't even trying to fight her smile when she slid her hand into his awaiting one. "Let's do this, Potter."

And with that, they jumped. Ron and Hermione glanced at each other with wide eyes and quickly followed suit. The drop took their breath away as they hurdled toward the ground. They thankfully landed on something incredibly soft, instead of the hard concrete that they stood up on. Ron shot a questioning glance to Harry.

"She cast a cushioning charm," he explained, jabbing a thumb at Bellatrix, who was surveying their surroundings. "Saved our bums and our heads."

"Oh," he said. "Thanks."

"Not a problem," she replied off-handedly, clearly distracted. They were standing in a small, circular room surrounded by five doors, which presented a bit of a problem. She wasn't quite sure which door led to where they needed to go. None of them were.

"How are we supposed to know what door to go through?" Hermione questioned, unaware that she was repeated Bellatrix's thoughts out loud. "These doors could lead anywhere."

"Or nowhere, really," the raven haired girl couldn't help but add, smirking.

Hermione glared daggers at her and Harry and Ron both moved to intervene, but she snapped before either of them could. "Why are you even here? You aren't supposed to be here."

"And yet, here I am." She was still smirking. She knew she shouldn't goad the bushy haired girl, but she couldn't help it sometimes. It was so easy to get under her skin.

"Bella," Harry was finally able to say something in warning.

She blinked and looked over at him. His face was obviously disapproving, but that wasn't what made her pause. He called her Bella. He had never called her that before. Draco was the only person at school who would even dare call her that. Well, aside from Blaise, but she had corrected that easily. She would have to correct Harry later… if she decided to correct him at all.

"It's that one," she said when she was done staring at him, pointing at the door straight across from her and pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind. It wasn't really the time.

"How do you know?" Ron questioned, thinking she just pointed to a random door.

"It has a magical signature on it," she explicated, going over to stand in front of said door. "When I was younger, I was taught to be sensitive to magic, all kinds of magic. So when someone has used magic somewhere, perhaps for example on this door, I can sense it. I know that it's this door because I can't sense the same magic on the other doors."

"That's really neat," Harry commented, going to the door as well.

She smirked and sent a wink toward Hermione. "One of the countless perks of being a pureblood, I suppose. Now let's go. I don't have all night."

The four of them started through the door and quickly found themselves in a very long hallway. Bellatrix started feeling along the walls for the presence of recent magic and she excitedly, silently noted that the feeling was getting stronger and darker the further down the hallway they moved. Ron, who brought up the caboose, was glancing around nervously and Hermione, who was in front of him, noticed and sighed.

"Your rising anxiety levels are sure to get us caught by anything that may be lurking down here," she commented to him in exasperation.

His eyes widened in horror. "What's lurking down here?"

"Quiet, children," Bellatrix said as she came upon a dark, wooden door.

The skin on the back of Harry's neck stood on end. He was sure that whatever was on the other side of that door was not good. The Slytherin in front of him seemed to agree because she took in a deep breath before pushing the door open. The chamber they stepped into was dark and well structured, but at the end of it, Harry could clearly see someone standing in front of a mirror. He recognized that mirror. It was the same one that showed him his parents.

"Stay here," he told his friends.

"We will," Bellatrix answered for them. She was looking at the figure in front of the mirror. She was sensing something. Something dormant, but very, very strong and very, very dark. "You go now."

"You really expect us to just let him-"

"Now is not the time, Granger," she growled lowly. "He has to do this alone."

"I do?" Harry asked.

"Alone?" Ron whisper/yelled.

"Yes, alone," she repeated and pushed Harry forward. "I know what I'm talking about. This is about him right now. We can't interfere. We're just here in case he needs our help."

"How do you know he doesn't need us now?" Hermione reasoned.

Bellatrix merely inclined her heard toward Harry.

* * *

As he moved closer and closer to the figure and the mirror, his scar began to burn something furious. He brought a hand up to soothe the burning when he came to a small case of stairs. Stopping at that safe distance, he studied the person in front of the mirror and was beyond shocked to see that it wasn't Snape, but Professor Quirrell.

"You," the dark haired wizard breathed in astonishment. He had not been anticipating that development.

Quirrell turned around with a sneer set firmly on his face. "Good of you to finally show up, Potter."

"How is it-? I thought that Snape had-" Harry cut off his own babbling when he was fully able to grasp the situation. "It's been you this whole time, hasn't it?"

"Correct. And you had no idea it was me, did you?" He didn't give Harry the chance to respond. "I knew no one would suspect me, least of all you."

"But the Quidditch match," Harry tried. "Snape tried to kill me."

"No, Harry," Quirrell snarled. "_I_ tried to kill you. And I would have succeeded if Snape's robes hadn't caught fire, even with him muttering his little counter curse." Harry couldn't believe his ears. Snape had tried to save him? But that didn't make any sense. Snape hated him and Quirrell… "Now, tell me how this mirror works. I see myself holding the Stone, but how do I get it?"

"You need Harry," a voice spoke up behind them. Both whirled around to see Bellatrix approaching.

"Bellatrix? What are you doing? Where are-"

She interrupted him with a severe look. "They're fine."

"Bellatrix Black," Quirrell spat curiously. "I should've known he would bring you along."

The raven haired girl took Harry's hand and led him toward their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and the mirror. She seriously hoped this worked. "He didn't bring me. I brought myself, thank you very much. Now…" she halted in front of them mirror and regarded the man. "You need Harry to get the Stone."

Harry's eyes widened. What was she doing? Quirrell eyed her suspiciously. "How do you know? If this is some kind of trap-"

"_The girl is right,"_ a raspy voice echoed throughout the chamber, making the two first years glance around for the source. _"Use the boy."_

Quirrell shoved Harry in front of them mirror. "What do you see?"

Harry stared at the mirror. He saw him and Bellatrix. She was taking something from her robes. It was the Stone! She had the Stone, but… she was handing it over to him. She gave him the Stone and he put it in his pocket. In the mirror, the two of them shared a look. The real Harry reached down at his pocket and fought off a gasp when he found the Stone lay nestled there. He shot a look over at his friend and she gave him an undecipherable one back.

"What is it? What do you see?" The professor demanded when he saw the exchange.

Harry thought up a quick lie. "I'm holding hands with Bella. She's just agreed to be my girlfriend."

"_He lies,"_ the rough voice returned, and his words sparked Quirrell's ire. _"Let me speak to him."_

Quirrell frowned at the request. "Master, you are not strong enough."

"_I am strong enough… for thissssss,"_ the voice insisted in a tone the held no room for further debate.

As Quirrell started to unwrap his head piece, Harry began to back away fearfully, pulling Bellatrix with him. "I had not expected this," she whispered to him.

"You knew it was him," the boy accused, though he knew now wasn't the best time to be throwing accusations around.

"I knew it wasn't Snape," she insisted in a quiet hiss.

The professor before them finished unwrapping the cloth previously around his head to reveal a living, breathing, moving face where the back of his head should've been.

"_Harry Potter,"_ the new face jeered. "_We meet again."_

"That was the most cliché thing he could have said," Bellatrix mumbled under her breath, but Harry wasn't paying attention.

He was fixed on the extra face. "Voldemort."

"_Give me the Stone, Potter. I know you have it."_

Harry shook his head in the negative. "I don't. I don't have it."

"_It's the only thing that can give me the body I need and it so conveniently lies in your pocket,"_ Voldemort sneered. _"Give it to me."_

"Run, Harry," Bellatrix commanded, but when he turned to do just that Quirrell snapped his fingers and suddenly fire surrounded them. She frowned at that. "Of all the things_._" She murmured something and pointed her wand at the flames and a spray of water shot out of the tip, extinguishing some of the fire. "Now, let's go."

"_Stop him!"_ Voldemort shouted.

Quirrell wasted no time in running after the two. He got to them just as the pair got to the top of the stairs. He grabbed onto Harry and pinned him to the ground. "_Listen to me, Harry."_

"Listen to you? You're evil!" The boy yelled. "You killed my parents!"

"_There is no good and evil, Harry, only power and those too weak to seek it,"_ the being intoned. _"Together, we'll do extraordinary things."_

"Never," the Gryffindor said calmly, despite his rapidly beating heart, and pushed his hands against Quirrell's face. In return, the place where his hands had been started to burn, harden and then crumble off the man's face.

"What is this magic?" Quirrell screamed in agony.

Harry looked at his hands, thunderstruck. Had he really done that?

"_Kill him!"_

The professor started at Harry again, but the boy shoved his hands onto the man's face again, much firmer this time. And he watched him when stumbled backwards as his body disintegrated into nothing but a pile of ash. Harry then saw something swirling up from the ashes, something with a face. Soon enough, he realized that it was Voldemort's spirit and it was coming right for him.

When it reached him, he felt a searing pain through his middle and he fell to the floor. The last thing he saw was black curls.

* * *

The next time Harry opened his eyes he found himself, not by the mirror, but in the infirmary. He was sore in places he didn't know he could be sore in. Fighting the stiffness, he sat up and put on his glasses, which had been resting on a small table next to his hospital bed. When he could finally see, the first thing he noticed was a load of candy and gifts at the foot of his bed.

"Hey there."

He whipped his head to the side to see Bellatrix entering.

"You're all right." And he couldn't believe how incredibly relieved he was to see that. "What about Ron and Hermione? Are they-?"

"I told you they were fine," she said, coming to his side. "I sent them to get Dumbledore when I saw that it was Quirrell at the mirror."

"Why didn't you go with them? You could've been hurt," he said, but something in her eyes told him the opposite was true. In fact, he didn't think she had been in any danger at all.

"If I had gone with them, I couldn't have protected you and you probably would've been worse off than you are now," she explicated gently, but something was off. She wasn't looking at him. It was more like she was looking past him.

"Bella," he called softly, grabbing both of her hands in his. She sent a fleeting look at him, but averted her eyes quickly. "Bella, please will you look at me?" He heard her pull in a deep breath before she raised her eyes to meet his. Her violets seemed to be shining with something that could've been tears.

"How do you feel?" She inquired before he could ask if anything was wrong.

He gave her a weak smile. "Like I was run over by a truck."

She chuckled. "I would imagine. You hit the ground pretty hard. Not to mention what happened before that."

"What did happen?" He was curious. "To you, I mean?" He remembered seeing her hair before everything went black, but that was it.

"Nothing happened to me," she told him. "I didn't think Quirrell could do anything to you once you had the Stone." She said Quirrell, but he knew who she was really talking about.

"But how did you get the Stone?" That was one thing that baffled him. He thought she would've told him if she had the Stone.

"I haven't the slightest idea. I found it in my robes when I went to help you," she said with a frown. She was hoping Harry would know how the Stone got to be in their possession.

"Where is it now?" He wondered.

"Dumbledore gave it back to Flammel, I think," she said.

He was hesitant to ask his next question. "And… Professor Quirrell? Is he…?"

"Gone," she let him know.

"Yes, Miss Black is right," a new voice interjected. It was the Headmaster. "She is also supposed to be in the Great Hall."

"I took my prefect's direction as more of a suggestion," she replied loftily, removing her hands from Harry's.

Dumbledore laughed lightly at the young girl. She was definitely a Black. "Do you think I could have a few moments alone with Harry?"

"She doesn't need to go, Headmaster," Harry told him, weary of Bellatrix leaving his side. "She was with me the whole time. She knows everything."

"It's about time someone realized that," the girl sniffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

It was no surprise to either of them that Dumbledore had some very insightful things to say, mostly about Harry and the events that occurred in the dungeons. They both listened intently, one more obviously than the other, but nonetheless, they both listened and learned. Of course though, Bellatrix did have to roll her eyes at the ridiculous notion that it was Lily Potter's _love_ that saved Harry from Quirrell and Voldemort. He left them alone again after that, but not before he sampled some of Harry's candy from his "admirers."

"All right, Harry Potter," Bellatrix said. "It's time to face the world again. Are you up to it?"

"I don't know," he said honestly. "Will you be there?"

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Where else would I be, you silly boy?"

* * *

It wasn't long before Harry was dressed in his Gryffindor robes and found Ron and Hermione. They were both completely fine, like Bellatrix had said. The three of them made their way toward the Great Hall where their Slytherin friend was waiting for them, looking far too patient. When they got to her, she tilted her head in a minor greeting before opening the large doors.

They were greeted with the cheers and jovial laughter of their schoolmates. It was controlled chaos as the four of them made their way to their respective tables. The Gryffindors were hugged and patted on the back, embraced by their house. Bellatrix went and sat between her nephew and Pansy Parkinson and though her table was showing her applause, most of them knew not to touch her and those that didn't were far enough away that they didn't get the chance to, lucky for them.

The house cup announcement was what everyone was waiting for though. And when Dumbledore announced the winning house, pandemonium broke out at that table. Slytherin was in the lead with points, followed by Ravenclaw, then Hufflepuff, and finally Gryffindor. However, the final standing was changed when the headmaster awarded fifty points to Hermione for "cool use of intellect when others were in peril" and fifty points to Ron for "the exceptional athleticism displayed" and fifty points to Harry for "pure love and outstanding courage," but there was another fifty points to be awarded to Bellatrix Black for "an extraordinary exhibition of magical talent." Thus was the final standing, Hufflepuff last, then Ravenclaw in third, then Gryffindor in second, and Slytherin still in first place.

You could've tried to wipe the smug look off of Bellatrix Black's face after that, but all she had to say to that was "Well, I _am_ a Black."

"Your face is going to stay like that if you don't stop smirking as if you've won the lottery," Ron told her when they were on the train, leaving Hogwarts. He was sitting next to her while she silently gloated about her house's win. Harry and Hermione were across from them; Harry was looking at the album of his parents that Hagrid had presented him with before they left and Hermione was trying to read a book.

"No, it won't," she said, not bothering to rearrange her facial features. "Besides, you'd all be flaunting it if your house had won so don't bother trying to rain on my parade."

"Don't what?" He asked, not recognizing the phrase.

"It's a muggle expression, Ronald," Hermione supplied. "I'm surprised you've even heard of it, Bellatrix."

"Why? Because I'm a pureblood? Not that you'd understand, Granger, but as a pureblood, it's my duty to be cultured and aware. I am aware enough to know that muggles greatly outnumber wizards and I'm aware enough to know that I ought to be cultured in every way possible. Including muggle ways. It makes me a better…" she trailed off and sat back in her seat. "Never mind. I don't know why I'm explaining myself to you in the first place."

"Could you two not argue for once, please?" Harry requested pleadingly. He hated it when they fought.

"Gladly," the amethyst eyed girl conceded. "So Harry, what are your plans for the summer?"

* * *

_And I'm not scared of your stolen power. I see right through you any hour. _

* * *

**All right, I'm ending it there because I have nothing more to write about the end of their first year at Hogwarts. I apologize for this taking so long, but my muse was on vacation, it seems. The next chapter will start in the middle of the summer and I'll try to get it out faster, promise. Now…**

**Review, per favore.**

**They mean everything to me.**

**There's a Bellatrix line in there that I stole from the Devil Wears Prada. "By all means, move at a glacial pace. You know how that pleases me." Courtesy of Miranda Priestly.**

**The song that Bellatrix sang to Fluffy is called Green Finch and Linnet Bird by Stephen Sondheim from Sweeney Todd. It's a gorgeous musical. I highly suggest you watch it or at least listen to the soundtrack. Sondheim is a genius.**

**Lyrics: Eyes on Fire by Blue Foundation**

**~Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**


	6. Straw into Gold

Tethered to the Story We Must Tell  
Chapter 6: Straw into Gold

_Will you realize I'm clinging to the edge of this pit? I have nowhere to go. I have nowhere._

* * *

Bellatrix Black was not happy. Oh no, she was not happy at all. Her mother had invited her Aunt Walburga over for a visit. A very long visit in Bellatrix's opinion. She did not like her aunt. And her aunt did not like her. It was a well known fact among the Black family that they were adversaries. Their mutual hatred for each other began had been present since Bellatrix was a baby. That was why her aunt only visited them two to three times a year, if that. They always ended up fighting and this visit was no different.

Everything was fine for the first three days. They'd both managed to steer clear of each other, except for during meals, but they easily avoided talking to each other. It was the third night at dinner that something happened. It started when her mother asked her about her friends at school and what they had been doing for the summer.

Bellatrix calmly replied. "I don't have any friends and the only people I can think of are Harry, Ron, and Hermione and I couldn't give fewer shits about what any of them are doing."

"You shouldn't be consorting with those… _people_, Bellatrix," Walburga told her niece, sneering the word 'people' as if the three children weren't worthy of the description. "It's unbecoming of a young girl of your status."

She slowly –very slowly raised one elegant black brow and titled her head ever so slightly to the side. "What kind of people?"

"You know what kind I mean, girl. Don't be coy," the woman snapped. Her niece was out of control. She needed to know her place as the young pureblood that she was. Walburga didn't know what had gone wrong with the girl.

Now Bellatrix was amused. Her aunt could have opinions and want to force them on her, but she was reluctant to say them aloud. For some reason, that thought tickled her. "I haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about, Aunt Walburga. I'm not being coy. I'm simply asking a question. Now... what kind of people shouldn't I be "consorting" with again? I'm not sure I can remember."

Druella knew what her daughter was doing and sent her a brutal glare that the girl either ignored or managed not to see. It didn't matter though, Walburga was already riled up. "You shouldn't be associating yourself with mudbloods, blood traitors and filthy little half-bloods."

"Well, until you get to know my mudblood, my blood traitor, and my filthy littlehalf- blood, I suggest you keep your mouth firmly shut on the issue," she said, trying to keep the bite out of her voice. She wasn't looking to argue like her aunt always seemed to be. She just wanted to finish her dinner and retire to her room. And she didn't really think of Hermione as her mudblood, or Ron as her blood traitor, but Walburga didn't need to know that.

"Bellatrix, do not speak to your aunt that way," her mother admonished her. "You know better than that."

"And she knows better than to give her opinion to me when it isn't asked for," she retorted snidely. Her mother always chose her aunt's side. Every. Single. Time.

"You'll bring shame upon this family, Bellatrix," Walburga said, glaring at the girl.

"I think you've got that covered," she remarked smartly, but her aunt wasn't done.

"You need to learn your place and you need to learn to respect your elders."

"I know my place and I respect my elders just fine when they respect me back," she ground out, fed up with the woman sitting across from her. She could only take so much. "You need to realize that you don't live here and you don't dictate what goes on in this house or what goes on with me for that matter. I will befriend people I think will benefit me and if that happens to be a mudblood or two, then fine. But you don't get to tell me who I can associate myself with. You are not the Head of this House and you are certainly not the boss of me."

She walked out after that, not staying to listen to what her aunt had to say in response. She heard her mother and father calling after her, but she kept going. She left her home at Black Manor and only looked back once. She continued on to wander around London for another three hours before she finally took refuge in one of her father's hotels.

Cygnus Black was in the muggle hotel business. Since his brother had been the Head of the House of Black, he had been left to his own devices to find a way to contribute to the Black wealth. And while it was highly unusual for a pureblood to be involved with muggles, he knew that it was only for business purposes and nothing more. It was widely unknown in the wizarding world exactly what Cygnus did as he kept that a secret even from his closest friends – not that he had many. But he made quite a name for himself as Cassius Bancroft in the muggle hotel industry.

He owned more muggle hotels than Bellatrix could count in London, let alone the many he had across the globe. And she found herself in one of the fancier ones near Surrey, a little over half an hour from her home on the outskirts of Sutton. As she greeted the elevator man, Charles, she vaguely remembered Harry saying something to her about Surrey. Little Whinging, perhaps?

* * *

Harry Potter was not having a good summer. Not that he'd ever had a good summer, but this summer was especially bad. He had to come back to the Dursleys when the school year at Hogwarts was over. It was something he'd dreaded for most the train ride from the school. But he was used to the treatment he received from his family. It wasn't that. It was that his friends hadn't written him at all. He hadn't gotten an owl from Ron or Hermione. Not even Bellatrix had contacted him.

He supposed he shouldn't complain too much. His uncle had let him take up Dudley's second room now the other boy no longer needed a whole room for his own toys. And his family seemed to leave him alone for the most part, besides assigning him extra chores to do. (And besides Aunt Petunia throwing pots and pans at him the one time he took out his wand. Luckily, she had terrible aim and didn't hit him.) But there was nothing to occupy his time beyond that. No letters to read or reply to. No one to talk to aside from Hedwig, who he admitted, for an owl, was quite good company. But the neglect from his friends was beginning to get to him.

Currently though, he wasn't thinking about his friends. He was going down the stairs to get started on dinner when the doorbell rang.

"Get the door, boy!" Vernon shouted from the living room.

Sighing, the dark haired boy bound the rest of the way down the stairs and unlocked the front door before opening it. He was gob smacked at the person on the other side of it. So gob smacked in fact that he just stared at her for a good long minute.

"I think it's customary for you to at least invite me in," she drawled, removing the sunglasses from her face.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, he stepped aside to let her in before remembering his relatives. "Um, I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Harry, you haven't seen me in a little over a month," she pointed out, trying to keep her temper. She wasn't in the mood to stand outside all day. She wasn't in the mood for anything at the moment. "I come to see you and you won't even let me in your house."

"Who's at the door, boy?" His uncle yelled.

She raised her eyebrows at her friend and he shrugged, almost apologetically. "I'm sorry. It's just that my relatives aren't really… big fans of magic."

"I don't care about your relatives, Harry," she told him quickly because again, she was not in the mood. "I can handle a few muggles." He sighed again, but let her in anyway, against his better judgment. She gave him a smile when he shut the door behind her. "Wonderful. Now let's start this over. Hello, Harry. It's good to see you again."

He grinned at her antics and without thinking, pulled her into a hug. He didn't think he would miss her as much as he did. "It's good to see you, too, Bella. And not to sound ungrateful, but what are you doing here?"

"Why don't you introduce me to your… family and we'll get to that later, hmm?" She suggested in a way that was more of a command than a suggestion.

He narrowed his eyes in confusion, but nodded and led her to the living room where Vernon and Dudley were. Vernon was reading the paper while Dudley had his gaze glued to the television. Petunia was sitting at the kitchen table reading a book. She and Vernon looked up when Harry and Bellatrix entered though.

"Who are you?" Harry's uncle demanded to know immediately.

"This is my friend Bellatrix. Bellatrix, that's my uncle, Vernon," Harry introduced, and then pointed to Petunia, and then Dudley. "That's my aunt, Petunia and my cousin, Dudley."

"It's nice to meet you all." No, it really wasn't. She didn't really like muggles at all. "I apologize for dropping by so unexpectedly, by the way. I've just recently been able to get away from familial obligations to come see Harry." That was one way of putting it.

"I didn't know Harry had any friends," Dudley commented, frowning. He had made sure that the little freak didn't have any friends when they were in primary school.

Bellatrix was tempted to simply ignore him, but temporarily decided against it. "Well, he does. Clearly."

"You're one of those freaks, aren't you?" Petunia questioned, eyeing the girl suspiciously.

The black haired pureblood shot her a frosty glare. "You're the one wearing pastels. I think that more than qualifies you as a freak, lady." When Vernon squawked in outrage on his wife's behalf, she held up a hand to silence him. "I'm not here to trade insults with you muggles. That is honestly the furthest thing from my mind. I came to get Harry and that's it."

"He will be going nowhere with you!" Vernon bellowed, spittle flying from his lips. "Now get out of my house!"

She blew out an irritated breath. "There's no need to shout, muggle. I can hear you quite clearly. Now, Harry _is_ coming with me, whether you like it or not. And if you try to stop us, there will be harsh repercussions, do you understand?" She didn't wait for his response. "Harry, please go and pack your things."

The olive eyed wizard had watched the scene anxiously because he knew of his uncle's temper and he knew of Bellatrix's as well. He was only lucky that she didn't seem to be in a fighting mood today. But he was also thoroughly confused. Why had she suddenly come to rescue him after a whole month of ignoring him? He was slightly hesitant to go with her, but then realized that she was getting him away from that awful place.

"I never unpacked," he told her and not sparing his uncle a glance, went upstairs to get his things ready.

"You're not going anywhere!" Vernon screamed at him and got up to go after him, but Bellatrix blocked his path. He sneered at her. "I'll call the law."

She smirked and rolled her eyes. "And tell them what? That a twelve-year-old girl kidnapped your nephew? I might even stay around to see that."

He angrily jabbed a fat finger in her face. "Now, see here, girl-"

"Stop talking," she said bluntly and the large man gaped at her like a fish.

xXx

She was generously carrying Hedwig's cage while he carted around his suitcase. They had only moments ago left 4 Privet Drive, but not before Bellatrix had mockingly curtsied to Vernon and sarcastically thanked the family for their hospitality. Harry had grinned when he caught the exchange. Uncle Vernon's face was so red he thought it might explode.

"At the risk of sounding like a prat, why did you just do that?" Harry wondered, breaking the silence that had descended on them. "Come and get me, I mean? Not that I'm not incredibly grateful, but I'm just curious."

She stopped walking and looked him in the eye silently. "I needed a friend."

* * *

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

The two of them had been in her hotel room for a good five minutes getting Harry settled and he hadn't said a word. Not a one. It was beginning to unnerve Bellatrix. Harry always talked when she was around him, but now he was being incredibly silent. She had to do something about that.

He looked up from his trunk at the sound of her voice. "I wasn't sure if you were in the mood for a conversation. You seem… angry. I didn't want to bother you."

She rolled her eyes at his response. He was unbelievably considerate. "I'm not angry. I'm just extremely annoyed. That's why I'm here. My father owns this hotel and that fact is the one of the only reasons I'm allowed to be here by myself. I came here because I can't be at home right now."

"Would you like to tell me about it?" He offered warily. He wasn't sure if she'd actually tell him or not, but he thought it'd be good if he offered, at the very least.

With a dramatic sigh, Bellatrix flung herself onto her bed, the one farthest from the window, that is. She hadn't originally wanted a room with two beds, but she was glad she got this room anyway. She was especially glad when Harry sat down next to her and not on his bed. Throwing an arm over her eyes, she sighed again, softer this time. "It's my aunt. She's a terrible beast of a woman and I hate her."

Harry could certainly share that sentiment. "Did she do something?"

"Always," she said vaguely. "She was doing what she usually does, cursing mudbloods and blood traitors and I would ordinarily ignore it, but when Mother asked about my friends and I mentioned you and Ron and Hermione, she jumped on the opportunity to reprimand me. She told me that I shouldn't be associating myself with mudbloods, blood traitors, and _filthy little half-bloods._"

"What is-?"

"A mudblood is a derogatory term for someone that is muggleborn. It means that their blood is impure. A blood traitor is a pureblood who chooses not to believe in the concept of blood purity and supports rights for mudbloods. And I'm sure you can easily deduce that a filthy little half-blood is someone who has one pureblood parent and one mudblood or muggle parent."

Harry nodded, absorbing the admittedly disturbing information he'd just received. "So, Hermione would be the…"

She finished for him, mostly because she could tell he didn't want to say the word. "Mudblood, yes. Ron would be the blood traitor and you would be…" Now, she didn't want to say it.

"The filthy little half-blood," he said, casting a glance her way. She had taken her arm away from her face and was staring at the ceiling. "What is blood purity?"

"Well, in the wizarding world, there are three classifications for a witch or wizard regarding their blood status. A pureblood is someone who is born to parents who have no traces of muggle blood and have a purely magic heritage," she explicated. "Among the purebloods are Ancient and Noble houses, like my family, the Malfoys, the Potters and the Longbottoms and that means that we can trace our family's pureblood heritage for more than five generations. And there are pureblood families whose houses aren't Ancient and Noble, but still have most of the benefits of being a pureblood."

"My father's family is an Ancient and Noble house?" Harry questioned quietly after hearing her mention his last name. He had no idea about any of this.

She looked at him now. "Yes. And even though you're not a pureblood, you are the last of the Potters, in Britain at least, and that makes you the only living heir to your house, meaning that when you reach your majority at seventeen years of age or you're emancipated from your aunt and uncle, you will become the Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter. Your title would officially be Lord Potter, but since you're not a pureblood, most people won't actually call you that."

"How do you know all of this?" He wondered, amazed. "How did I not know all of this?"

"I know because I am a Black and as a pureblood of my status, I'm required to know about the other Houses that could eventually marry into and because my father is in the Wizengamont, though many people seem to forget that. It's probably because he's so quiet." She took a moment to sit up. "After purebloods, there are half-bloods. That's what you are. Because purebloods still have a lot of political power most half-bloods tend to stick with their pureblood parent's heritage and either ignore or hide their muggle heritage. Purebloods generally regard them as the negligible witches and wizards in society. And then there are mudbloods, or muggleborns as would be the polite term. There are seen by purebloods and some half-bloods as lowest pieces of filth in the wizarding world and they are worthless and have no place in society other than as slaves to purebloods."

Despite himself, Harry felt his ire rising at these words. "Hermione is not worthless!"

Bellatrix didn't seem the least bit concerned with his indignation. In fact, it was like she hardly noticed it at all. "Yes, well." She was obviously choosing not to say much on the subject.

He couldn't believe it. "You actually believe all that drivel?"

She shrugged one shoulder. "It's what I've been raised to believe. There are some things that I don't necessarily agree with, but I _am_ a pureblood. And besides, as a free citizen in the Wizarding community, I'm entitled to my opinions and beliefs. As are you. I wasn't telling you all this because I believe it all and I want to convert you or anything. It was merely information that you asked for."

"Well, how do you feel about it?" He asked pointedly.

She was silent for a long while. "That has yet to be determined."

He wisely chose not to say anymore on the subject because he had a feeling that pushing her for more information would not have been a good idea. This proved to be a good feeling as she dropped the subject and instructed him to freshen up. They were going out to dinner and she wouldn't have her new eating schedule knocked out of whack just because of him.

An hour later the pair was standing outside what Harry recognized as a very, very expensive restaurant. One the Dursleys never would've taken him to. Never in a million years.

"Bella, I don't think I can afford-"

She cut off the rest of his statement by putting her tiny hand over his mouth. "I don't remember asking you to pay. If you can recall, I said 'Harry, we're going out for dinner,' but I can't remember at all asking you to pay. Of course there's always a chance that I'm mistaken. Did I ask you to pay for dinner, Harry?"

He sighed because even though it had only been a month, he should've remembered how Bellatrix operated, especially when she was in a sour mood. "No, you didn't. I'm sorry." Though, he didn't know what he had to be sorry for.

But apparently she did. "It's okay." She let him hold the door open for her and he took the chance to note how the fabric of her black dress draped so easily over her small frame, giving it a comfortable, non-smothering look. He was so busy admiring that she had to tug him forward with her toward the hostess.

Said hostess smiled brightly down at the two of them. "Hello, welcome to The Assembly. How many?"

"Just two," Bellatrix said.

"Two?" The hostess echoed.

"Two," she repeated with what the boy with her identified as an irritated nod.

The blonde woman in front of them furrowed her brows. "Won't your parents be joining you?"

The Slytherin cast her friend a deadpan stare before looking back at the hostess. "He's not my brother and no, my parents will not be joining us."

"Should you two be out this late?" The woman raised a suspicious eyebrow.

Bellatrix huffed impatiently. "Should you be asking us so many personal questions? Just get us a damned table, you nosy twat."

If Harry wasn't so used to her foul mouth, he would've been appalled by her display of language. Instead, he was just amused. Their hostess however wasn't. She grumbled something under her breath that made Bellatrix hiss before the woman led them to a well lit table close to the front of the restaurant. The raven haired aristocrat wasn't pleased. She requested a dimly lit table in a corner. Harry wasn't surprised. He figured she spent most of her time in ill lit corners.

"I don't like her," Bellatrix stated before the hostess was even out of earshot.

Harry chuckled. "I don't think she likes you much, either."

"Good." She fought the oddest urge to pout. "What do you want to drink? And if you say water because you think getting something else will be more expensive, I'll smother you in your sleep."

And he had no doubts she would follow through on that. "I'll just have whatever you're having."

"You like cranberry juice?" She inquired just to make sure he didn't get something he didn't like.

He nodded his confirmation. "It's good."

She went to say something, but their waiter arrived to take down their drink orders. "Two glasses of cranberry juice," she requested politely. "And we haven't looked at the menu yet. Could you give us a few minutes?"

"Sure and I'll be back soon with those drinks," he smiled briefly before walking away. He had obviously been warned by the hostess before going to their table.

Harry glanced around the restaurant, taking in its comfortable and intimate atmosphere. There were couples littered all around them and each and every one of them were significantly older than him and Bellatrix. He became thoughtful at that discovery and wondered…

"Are we on a date?" His neck and cheeks were soon inflamed in a blush when he realized that he had just blurted his words out. He had the odd habit of speaking his thoughts before filtering them when he was around her.

Her eyes slowly slid up from her menu to his face. She wasn't quite sure how to answer that. "Does it feel like a date?"

He shrugged, blushing a bit more. "I don't know. I've never been on one," he admitted, shyly.

"Neither have I," she said. Too busy thinking over his question, she missed the silent shock on his face at her admission. "But it can be if you'd like it to be."

"Only if you want to," he said after a quiet moment.

She nodded, but made no further comment on the subject.

xXx

Only one person came to check up on Bellatrix during the week that she and Harry stayed at her father's hotel. A beautiful, tall woman with pure blue eyes and shock blonde hair, who he later learned was his friend's older sister (and Malfoy's mother) Narcissa, had shown up on the third day Harry was there. He of course was forced to hide in the closet for nearly half an hour while the sisters chatted. The dark haired boy had no complaints though. Listening to them talk was oddly fascinating, or rather, seeing how Bellatrix interacted with a member of her family that wasn't Malfoy was fascinating.

The pair spent the majority of the week walking around different parts of London and eating out at various restaurants –Harry didn't know if those were dates either. The time they did spend in the hotel room was taken up by sleep and more discussions involving the issue of blood status in Wizarding society. Harry was unable to get Bellatrix's concrete opinion on the topic however. She remained steadfast in keeping that all to herself.

All too soon their week together came to an end on Harry's birthday. It was the day that Bellatrix had told him that she would be transferring him over to the Weasleys so that she could go back home to study and get ready to go back to school. The pair stood on the outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole in Devon, England in front of the home of the Weasley family. The air surrounding them was thick with disappointment and somber expressions coated their visages.

"This is it then," Harry mumbled, breaking through the substantial silence that had followed them around all morning. He stared straight ahead, eyes fixed on the house several yards in front of them. This was his first time seeing Ron's home.

"It's not forever, Harry," Bellatrix reminded him with an eye roll, he knew. As if on cue, they both turned to face each other. "It's only a month and then we'll be back at Hogwarts, causing trouble just like we did last year." She then paused thoughtfully. "Well, that was mostly you, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was," he chuckled softly, but she could tell it was forced.

Placing her hands in his, she gripped them tightly and stepped toward him. With their faces only half a foot apart, she could smell her soap on him and pulled a deep breath in, reveling in the aroma of her on him. "Happy birthday."

"You told me that this morning," he pointed out, but smiled anyway.

"I know, but you failed to ask me what I've gotten you," she told him, matter-of-factly.

"You didn't have to get me anything, Bella," he said, though it was hard to keep the excitement over the prospect of getting a present for his birthday from his voice. "You rescued me from my relatives. That alone was more than enough."

"I respectfully disagree, but I knew you'd say that so I decided that I would give one present to you now and then let you find the rest." When she saw him about to protest. "Don't worry. I didn't get you that many. I do hope you like them though."

"I have no doubt that I will," he assured her.

"You say that now," she remarked wryly and they stood in an amicable silence for a little while. "I should need to be going back home soon," she said with no more than a touch of regret.

He nodded and prepared to pull away from her, but she kept hold of his hands and brought her lips to his in a swift kiss.

She moved back and smiled a smile Harry was unfamiliar with. "Happy birthday, Harry."

He watched her walk away and it took him several moments to gather his bearings and realize how breathless he was.

* * *

Bellatrix arrived in her bedroom at Black Manor a little over an hour after she had left Harry with the Weasleys. She had plans to crack open a book on serpents, but unsurprisingly, when she walked into her room, she was confronted by her sister's house elf.

"Dobby," she said by way of greeting.

"Miss Bella," he said back, fighting a whimper.

She shook her head. He was unnaturally afraid of her and she couldn't understand why. "I gave them to him."

The letters. The ones that Dobby had fought to keep from Harry.

"But, Miss Bella, the danger-"

"I know of the danger, Dobby," she cut him off sharply. "But please, feel free to warn Harry anyway. He won't listen to you though. There's no way he wouldn't go back to Hogwarts."

But Dobby wouldn't listen to her. "I must protect Harry Potter," he vowed before disappearing with a 'pop.'

And that was something she could readily agree with.

* * *

_If I leave, you'll call me quitter. If I stay, you'll punish me with silence._

* * *

**I am ever so sorry that it took me so long to get that chapter up, but school just started last week and AP Calc and Dual Credit English are two big bitches. Anyway, I'll try super, extra hard to do better next time.**

**Review, per favore.**

**Lyrics: Straw into Gold by Idina Menzel (she's perf)**

**~Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**


	7. An Ocean and a Rock

Tethered to the Story We Must Tell  
Chapter 7: An Ocean and a Rock

_My gentle spoken friend, I lack a frame to put you in when you're an ocean and a rock._

* * *

She…

Had…

Kissed…

Him.

She had kissed him.

She had kissed him on the lips.

For a full three seconds!

Bellatrix had _kissed_ Harry on the lips!

In the whole twelve years of his life, Harry had never seen the appeal of snogging and he had never understood why people liked to do it so much. And now he did. He felt strangely delirious... like he was sort of floating, and he couldn't believe that a kiss was making him feel so incredibly elated. He hadn't even noticed the no doubt blinding smile on his face until his cheeks began to hurt. He couldn't remember ever smiling so wide before.

Blowing out a breath of amazement, he grabbed his trunk and Hedwig's cage. He wanted to at least attempt to try to hide his glee before he got to the door, but his attention was pulled away from his goal when he noticed something on the ground at his feet. He picked it up and realized that it was a stack of letters. A thick stack of letters. Flicking through them, he recognized them as letters his friends had sent to him over the course of the summer. But where had they all come from? He certainly hadn't had them when he and Bellatrix got there.

Ah, Bellatrix. Of course.

This thought brought a full blown blush to his chest and neck until another singular thought passed through his mind. How exactly had she gotten all of the letters? Was she intercepting his mail all summer? And if so, why would she do that just to give the letters back? And why hadn't she given them to him sooner? Thoroughly and sufficiently confused, he stuffed the letters into his trunk and made his way to the door of the Weasley home.

The family, especially Ron and for some reason his little sister Ginny, was surprised to see Harry on their door step. But like Bellatrix had predicted, he had been welcomed with wide open arms. Mrs. Weasley even offered to bake him a cake once she learned that it was his birthday and Ron and the twins confessed to have planned to break him out from his relatives' house in the next week. He was more than grateful to hear that, but in the back of his mind, he was glad that Bella had gotten to him first.

Staying with the Weasleys was unlike anything he'd ever experienced. They were livelier than any family he'd ever seen, especially his own. And they always managed to include him anything they were doing; something he'd had to get used to. Ron's parents, Molly and Arthur Weasley, were wonderful to him, they gave him a warm welcome and while he was ecstatic, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of longing, wondering if his parents were as affectionate and friendly.

He was sure they were.

For the duration of his stay, he spent almost all of his time with Ron and Ginny, who initially ran away from him when he first arrived. When she realized that he'd be staying for a while, she loosened up marginally, but followed the two boys around nearly everywhere they went. That fact made it very difficult for him to tell Ron about his first kiss and that it was with Bellatrix. And to be honest, he wasn't quite sure how he'd react. So he went most of the time at The Burrow pondering the kiss without any outside help.

Had she kissed him just because it was his birthday? Had she been planning to do that or had it been a spur of the moment thing? It even could've been an accident. As soon as that thought had entered his head, he shook it off. He knew well enough by now that Bellatrix Black didn't do anything accidentally. She had kissed him on purpose, but that still left him with the burning question of _why_. Why did she kiss him?

He was no closer to answering that question, even by the next time he saw her. It was after the first time he had ever traveled by floo powder (and he had no immediate urge to do such a thing again if he was always going to land in such dangerous places). Thank goodness for Hagrid finding him and rightfully returning him to the Weasleys. He was even able to meet up with Hermione at Flourish and Blotts, where women of all ages were fawning over Gilderoy Lockhart.

Mrs. Weasley ushered him inside the book shop with the rest of them and before he knew it, _The Daily Prophet_ was taking pictures of him with Gilderoy Lockhart who then announced that he would be giving Harry his entire works free of charge. Harry took them of course, but he had no intention of actually reading them so he was grateful when Mrs. Weasley grabbed the stack of books from him. He, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were heading toward the store's entrance when they were stopped by a sneering Malfoy.

"Famous Harry Potter. Can't even go to into a bookshop without making the front page."

Ginny stepped forward, face darkened. "Leave him alone."

"Oh, look Potter. You've got yourself a girlfriend," the blonde boy smirked only to have the smirk wiped away when he felt the mouth of his father's serpent cane come down harshly on his shoulder.

"Now, now, Draco, play nicely," he said with no ounce of sincerity in his voice.

"As if he's capable," another, more familiar voice chimed in from behind Draco's father.

"Bella," Harry smiled at her instinctively and his body twitched forward to hug her, but he held back. He still wasn't sure what terms they were on after their kiss.

Bellatrix gave him a small lilt of a smile, only allowing it to grow when she saw the looks Ron, Hermione and the small ginger girl were throwing at Harry. "Harry, how good to see you again. Ron, Hermione, it's good to see you as well. I see you've already found trouble in the form of my nephew. This happened to be his father and my brother-in-law, Lucy-us."

Lucius stepped toward Harry. "Mr. Potter," he appraised the boy before him with nothing short of contempt in his eyes before holding out his hand. "Lucius Malfoy. We meet at last." As the younger wizard took his hand, Lucius yanked him forward. "Forgive me. Your scar is legend," he murmured, pushing back the dark locks hiding said scar. "As, of course, is the wizard who gave it to you." His little grin was smug.

Harry frowned and moved away from him. "Voldemort killed my parents. He was nothing more than a murderer."

Lucius's face twisted into a scowl and Bellatrix saw as much, but decided not to intervene. "You must be very brave to mention his name. Or very foolish."

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself," Hermione spoke up.

The black haired girl rolled her eyes at that. "As true as that may or may not be, we'll have to be going now. I do sincerely apologize for cutting your meeting short, but there are a few things for us to get before we leave."

"Miss Granger," Draco's father intoned before turning to the Weasley children. "Weasleys," he scoffed, picking up one of Ginny's secondhand books.

Bellatrix gave a farewell nod to her friends. "Ron, Hermione…" she glanced at Ginny. "Little Weasley."

"Mr. Potter," Lucius put the book back into Ginny's bucket and fixed his gaze on Harry. "I do hope we meet again soon."

Harry just stared back before he was engulfed in an unexpected hug from Bellatrix. "Harry, I'll see you in a bit." She sounded too excited and she squeezed him to her a little too hard before letting go and sauntering out of the bookstore with a little book firmly in her grasp.

"Come, Draco," Lucius called and the two purebloods turned and left the shop as well.

"Since when did you start calling her Bella?" Hermione questioned once it was clear the two Malfoys were out of earshot.

The boy in question just shrugged his shoulders. There was no way he was telling Hermione about him and Bellatrix. At least not until he figured out what was going on between them.

Nearly an hour later the four of them were settling into a previously empty compartment on the train. Ron sat next to Hermione who was by the window and Ginny sat a little too close to Harry who was also next to the window. They were discussing their excitement for the beginning of the year and the second years made it a point to assure Ginny that she shouldn't be nervous and that she would definitely be sorted into Gryffindor.

"Perhaps." The four of them whipped their heads around to see Bellatrix standing in front of their open compartment. "Or perhaps she might get sorted into Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff quite unexpectedly."

"Hi again," Harry greeted her, still not knowing whether to go for the hug or not.

She graced him with a proper smile that time. "Hi. I would have gotten on the train with you, but my father and I had some business and my mother and sister were having… difficulties," she explicated, moving to sit in the space between him and Ginny who scrunched up her nose in response.

"Your parents were with you?" Ron asked. "I didn't see them."

"Why were you with the Malfoys?" Hermione wanted to know.

"Yes. They were with me. And you probably didn't see them because they made an effort not to attract too much attention. And I was with Lucy-us because he and I had something to discuss. I also noticed he was going to Flourish and Blotts and I may have seen you and Harry enter not long before that," she told them, and then sent a wink to the wizard next to her. "And I wanted to meet Harry Potter's new girlfriend, seeing as how I've been bumped to second best without my knowledge." She then turned to the one person in the compartment she hadn't yet met, ignoring Harry's attempted protests. "My name is Bellatrix Black, and you are?"

"That's my sister-" Ron began to say.

"And I'm sure your sister is perfectly capable of telling me her name," Bellatrix interrupted smoothly, not looking away from Ginny.

"I'm Ginny," the first year spoke up, still blushing from the earlier girlfriend comment. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," she said with a tight smile, before giving her attention back to Harry. "Excited for the year?"

* * *

Harry didn't get the chance to sort through all the letters until he was in his shared dormitory alone while all the other boys were down in the common room catching up. He was sitting on his bed, ready to open the first one when someone or some_thing_ _popped!_ into the room. Startled, he dropped the letters on the bed and watched as a tiny elfin-looking creature shook its little grey body and stared up at him with enormous eyes.

"Harry Potter," the creature breathed in wonder.

"Hello," the boy greeted for lack of anything else to do. He was too shocked to think of something else. "Um, who are you?"

"I am Dobby the House Elf," it dipped its head in an introduction.

"And how do you know me? What are you doing here?" He wanted to know, not bothering to ask what a house elf was.

"Harry Potter is in danger. Hogwarts is not safe," Dobby warned in his hushed, cracked voice. "You must go back home."

"Hogwarts _is_ my home," Harry told him, frowning at the threat of more danger this year. "I belong here. With my friends."

"You mean with friends that didn't write you a single word all summer?" The house elf questioned.

Harry opened his mouth to counter that before he realized that there was no way this little creature could know about the letters unless… "You were the one that stole all of my letters, weren't you?" Dobby's large eyes became downturned at the question and Harry received his answer. "But if you took them, how did Bellatrix get them?"

At the name, the house elf visibly flinched and began to fidget. "Miss Bella," he murmured under his breath before _popping_ out of the room.

There was a moment of silence when Harry just stared at the spot that Dobby had just vacated. "Well, that was weird."

* * *

"… fatal to anyone who hears it."

Harry saw Bellatrix fighting a smirk across from him as Hermione's words about the Mandrake settled in her head. He caught her eye with a questioning glance, but she just shook her head, her smirk fading into a smile.

"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor," Professor Sprout exclaimed gleefully.

"Did you know," the raven haired girl began softly, fingering her plant's leaves with a gloved hand, "that Mandrakes are remarkably similar to humans. The roots begin as babies, or seedlings, like the ones I'm assuming we have, and then they mature until they're able to be put to good use."

"Good job, Miss Black. Not many students know that. Ten points to Slytherin," the stout woman smiled at one her brightest pupils.

Hermione, who was standing next to her, frowned. "How did you know that?"

"I was once interested in Herbology," she shrugged. "But my father told me I was destined for more than just studying plants. And I agree."

* * *

"Can I ask you something?" Harry had caught up to Bellatrix when they were on the way to lunch after Herbology. He had been trying to get her attention during class, but she had remained focused on her Mandrake. "Is there anything you don't know?"

"There's plenty I don't know," she answered, casting him a sideways glance. "Like where you and I stand."

"What do you mean?" He questioned cautiously, unsure if she was referring to her parting gift to him on his birthday.

"I kissed you." She said the words slowly, softly so as to avoid anyone else hearing them. She watched his cheeks flush as his features tensed in what seemed to be anticipation. "And how do you feel about that?"

Harry obviously hadn't been expecting her to say that because he jumped as if startled. "How do I…? What? How do I feel?" She raised an eyebrow and nodded once. His dark brows furrowed as he thought. He felt… he liked the kiss, but now he was uncertain of the status of their friendship. He didn't know if they were still friends or more than friends or what. As a result, he didn't know how to act around her anymore.

He relayed his thoughts back to her and she nodded once more. She could understand that. She wasn't quite sure what they were anymore either. "What would you like us to be?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. What would _you_ like us to be?"

"I'm open to anything," she lied, trying to gauge his reaction. She of course was not open to anything, but she was curious as to what he would say. "We could remain friends or we could become more than friends. That is entirely up to you."

He watched her through slightly narrow eyes, deciding if she was telling the truth or not. He could never know with her. She could say one thing, but mean something completely different. So suffice it to say, he didn't quite know if she'd be fine with whatever path he chose for their friendship. He had a feeling that she was testing him, but he didn't know why or if he would pass.

"I think…" He saw her pull in a breath. "I think I'd like to be… more than friends." The words tasted foreign in his mouth, but he didn't regret saying them, especially after seeing the satisfied gleam in Bellatrix's eyes. "I would like it if you were my girlfriend." He had to bite his tongue to refrain from saying "I guess."

Violet eyes sharpened and her gazed trailed over his unsure face, unsurprisingly fixing on his eyes. She stared unblinking, stone-faced, refusing to give him any clues as to what she might say next. It wasn't until he started to fidget that she allowed a slow, feral smile to begin to make its way upon her face.

Harry gulped at its appearence. It was the first time he'd ever seen her smile like that and he wasn't sure he was ready to know what it meant.

* * *

_I feel you in the pocket of my overcoat. My fingers wrap around your words and take the shape of games we play._

* * *

**I'm so incredibly sorry that it has taken me so many months to update, but I couldn't find any inspiration to write this chapter so I'm posting it now even though it's so short, which is annoying to me, but I hope you like it.**

**Lyrics: Ocean and a Rock by Lisa Hannigan**

**~Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**


	8. Little Romance

Tethered to the Story We Must Tell  
Chapter 8: Little Romance

_Can I have this chance to be your little romance?_

* * *

Bellatrix never actually answered his question. She had just given him a kiss on the cheek under the guise of a friendly hug and walked away. He had watched as she caught up with Daphne Greengrass, not knowing what to think. She always left him with more questions than answers and it was equal parts frustrating and endearing. Harry was so distracted that he didn't continue on to DADA until Neville accidentally knocked into his shoulder.

He snapped out of his thoughts and made his way to class. He found a seat next to Ron who wondered what took him so long. Harry told him nothing, but when the redhead shrugged and turned to talk to Seamus, Harry twisted his head to the back of the room. Bellatrix was listening to a story Daphne was telling her, but –as if feeling his eyes on her, she turned and caught his eye. Her lips pulled up in that same devilish grin and his face flushed red.

"Are you alright, Harry?" He heard Hermione ask from the seat behind him.

The question only served to enhance his blush. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Ron chimed in. "Your face is all red. Ever your ears have gone red."

"I said I'm fine," the black haired boy replied curtly, annoyed that Bellatrix seemed to always manage to get such a reaction out of him. He would have to get her back somehow. He wasn't sure if he'd ever even seen Bellatrix blush.

Before he could ponder too much on that thought, the door at the front of the room swung open, almost violently, and a man that Harry recognized strode into the room with all the confidence in the world. It was Gilderoy Lockhart of course and nearly every girl in the room was swooning over him in one way or another. It was nauseating.

He strutted around the classroom, announcing all of his successes, trying and purposefully failing to sound casual about it all. Of course, all of his supposed greatness was shot to hell when he released the pixies and left Harry, Ron, and Hermione to handle them when he so obviously could not.

After they got Neville down from the chandelier, class was dismissed and the trio headed straight for the Gryffindor common room.

"That was the worst class I've ever had," Ron commented quite loudly once they were far away enough from Lockhart's classroom. "Excluding potions of course. I mean, what was he thinking, setting loose all those pixies? He couldn't even catch them himself. He's completely mental."

Hermione, who had been love struck by the teacher, thankfully and surprisingly kept quiet. Harry didn't seem too keen on responding either as his thoughts were elsewhere. As usual, as soon as class was dismissed, Bellatrix dashed out of the room and Harry found himself strangely disappointed. He had hoped… well, he didn't know what he hoped, but he didn't like that she just left without so much as a backward glance at him.

Perhaps he would talk to her about that.

"Harry, did you notice Bellatrix during class?" Hermione questioned, quite out of the blue. He gave her a startled look, slightly worried he had accidently voiced his thoughts out loud. "It's just that, when we were being attacked by the pixies, she just kept reading. When the pixies were released, she just climbed under her desk and continued to read. Don't you find that odd?"

Harry shrugged, trying to pretend not to care too much. "I guess, but seeing as how it's Bella, I don't think it's very odd at all."

"And since when did you start calling her Bella?" She wanted to know. Being friends with Bellatrix was one thing. Calling her by her nickname was another thing entirely. "Besides, I thought she didn't like being called Bella."

Luckily, he didn't have to answer because the topic of their conversation came gliding down the hall. And she was headed in their direction. The sight of her almost smiling at him stopped him from speaking. It didn't take her too long to reach him, especially with him beaming at her the way he was. "Could I perhaps speak to you in private?"

"Yeah," he nodded his consent. Fighting to stomp down his smile, he turned back to his friends. "I'll catch up with you guys later."

Ron and Hermione shared a look before reluctantly walking away.

"They still haven't warmed up to me, it seems," she stated, watching him. Her eyes roved over his face in the most peculiar way. It was as if she was trying to commit his features to memory. To save the image of his face in her mind.

He gave her a nervous, lopsided grin. "They just haven't gotten to know you like I have. If they did, they'd be more… welcoming."

She nodded and led him outside, away from curious ears. "And you'd like for me to get to know them, would you?"

"Of course I do. I would like it better if my friends got along better with my… other friend," he declared, only briefly stumbling over the last few words. But Bellatrix noticed and threw _that_ smirk his way. He reddened immediately and vowed to get her back for being able to affect him so. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"I didn't," her smirk deepened and she took a step closer to him. "But I think I should clarify something for you." She stepped closer yet again and the tips of her shoes touched with his. "I would very much like to be your girlfriend." She took another step forward and as Harry moved back, he found that she had strategically pinned him to a tree. When she saw he could no longer move back, she took a final step forward, leaving only a few inches between them. Her cool breath tickled his cheeks when she spoke again. "But I have a request."

His heart thundering in his chest, he struggled to form a response. She was so close. Extremely close. The best he could do was to choke out a sound that vaguely resembled an actual question.

Seeing his distress at her proximity, she leaned back to observe him better and her smirk faded into an amused smile. He was cuter than she would ever admit out loud. Shaking her head, she moved away from him to allow him some room to catch his breath. "I would rather not inform people of the progression of our friendship to… this."

It took him a moment to regain himself and process what was being said to him. When he finally did, confusion befell him. "Why?"

"Well, firstly, it's no one else's business. Secondly, we're twelve. I don't think anyone would really care. Thirdly, on the off chance that someone would care, I don't want them thinking they have the right to say anything about it. Fourthly, I just want to keep this for myself. No one needs to know."

She stared at him with an unwavering gaze as she explained herself and from the determined set of her jaw, Harry knew that she wouldn't budge on the issue. They would be keeping this a secret, whether he liked it or not. He would have to lie to his friends, whether he liked it or not.

"Okay," He conceded.

* * *

Harry frowned at the smug look on Marcus Flint's face when he revealed that Snape had given them permission to practice during Gryffindor's practice time. Of all the times for the Slytherins to claim the Quidditch pitch and they had to pick the exact time Wood booked the pitch for Gryffindor. There was no way that was a coincidence.

"Who's your new seeker?" Wood demanded to know after Flint's explanation of why they needed the pitch. Ron and Hermione took the opportunity to approach the group.

The group of players parted to expose quite possibly the most obnoxious person to exist, by Harry's standards, Draco Malfoy. The blonde had an infuriating smirk upon his lips. It didn't take him long to show off the new brooms the Slytherin team was sporting, courtesy of his father. When Ron voiced his incredulity over the extremely expensive brooms, Malfoy easily dished out an insult, targeting the Weasleys' low income.

"Must you boys always behave like cavemen?" Bellatrix spoke up from her spot behind Slytherin's Quidditch team. Harry hadn't even noticed she was there. "Insulting each other and such? Just get on with your practice, Draco."

Hermione seemingly ignored her attempt to diffuse the situation and added in scathingly. "At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in. They got in on pure talent."

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little mudblood," Draco sneered angrily. He was so sick of her being a little know-it-all.

A small collective gasp sounded from both groups of people, but it was Ron who decided to retaliate. He took out his wand and pointed it at Draco. "You'll pay for that one, Malfoy. Eat-"

Unfortunately, Malfoy was quicker and drew his wand, not hesitating to shout a spell that knocked Ron back several feet. The redhead hit the ground hard and wheezed, having the air knocked out of him quite violently. The Gryffindors rushed to his side and helped him to sit up. As soon as he was up, they all noticed the queasy look on his face and not a moment later, a large, black slug fell out of his mouth.

Harry was the first to react. "Let's take him to Hagrid's. He'll know what to do."

* * *

"Who was Ron trying to curse, anyway?" Hagrid wondered once he had settled the bucket in Ron's lap to catch the slugs.

"Malfoy," Harry answered. "He called Hermione a…" he trailed off and shot a glance toward Bellatrix who was idly looking out window.

The bushy haired Gryffindor stood up, frowning. "He called me a Mudblood."

Hagrid was shocked. "He did not."

"I don't know why you're all shocked. It was bound to come out of Draco's mouth sooner or later," Bellatrix commented lazily, not turning to face everyone. Her fingertips were flirting with a spider on the window sill. "You mustn't take everything he says to heart."

"I can't believe you would say something like that," Hermione whispered, sounding as if she had been punched in the stomach. "No, wait. It's you. I can believe it."

Bellatrix took that moment to twist around and face them with an unimpressed expression on her face. "He's a puppet," she said slowly, as if trying to explain something to a child. "He does what others tell him to do. One of his friends probably told him to call you a Mudblood. You shouldn't really see it as an insult anyway." And with that, she exited the shack without as much as a farewell.

"How can you be so heartless?" Hermione demanded furiously, running out after her. She was very close to tears at that point.

"It's quite easy, I assure you," the black haired girl deadpanned as Harry ran out as well. "But think about it. You don't see yourself as a Mudblood or lesser than us or half-bloods, do you? No. So what is the point of getting upset about something you don't even believe in? And even if you did think that about yourself, facts are facts. You can't change them so there's no reason to get your knickers in a twist."

"It's not that simple," the other girl fired back. "You don't have to be so insensitive about everything just because nothing seems to affect you."

"Are you really under the impression that your kind are the only witches or wizards that are insulted because of where you come from?" Bellatrix questioned sharply, almost daring Hermione to say otherwise. "It's barely the start of the school year and I've been called an inbred freak at least a dozen times by any number of your kind. And would you like to know something? I _am_ inbred. It's common knowledge. Most purebloods are. I'm proud to be a pureblood. The fact that my parents are of blood relation doesn't and will never change that. And you, Granger, the reality that your parents have no trace of magical blood shouldn't change the fact that you're proud to be a mudblood or a muggleborn or whatever. You can't change where you come from so there's no reason to make such a fuss about it."

"I never knew you felt so strongly about this, Bella," Harry stated cautiously, walking to stand between his friend and his girlfriend. He wasn't quite sure if Hermione had gotten the point of Bellatrix's rant and he didn't want their… disagreement to escalate any further.

"I don't," she corrected curtly before releasing a short, agitated breath. "I'm just annoyed that hardly anyone ever tries to look on both sides of this issue."

"How can we when-?" Hermione began to inquire.

"Don't." Bellatrix cut her off stridently. She let out another, slower, deeper breath this time. "I don't want to argue with you. That was not my intention when I gave my opinion on the subject. I understand why you were upset by my nephew calling you a mudblood. I promise I understand. But you can't let that faze you. You're too… goodness, I can't believe I'm about to say this… you're too smart and talented to let other people get to you. You wanna know why I'm number one in our class and you're number two? Because unlike you, I don't feel like I need to prove anything to anyone except myself." She went to walk away, but turned back around as if remembering something. "And my father, but that's neither here nor there."

"Is that why you're like this?" The brunette asked softly and black eyebrows rose in a silent question. "Cold and distant, I mean. Is that why nothing gets to you?"

Chilling laughter rang out around them and Harry was surprised to find it came from Bellatrix. The girl was smirking rather deviously. "No. I'm like this because I'm an elite pureblood with elite pureblood parents and elite pureblood relatives who have elite pureblood ideals. I was raised knowing that I'm better than everyone else and that there's nothing that can be done to prove otherwise. And for the record, there are plenty of things that get to me, but because I'm like "this" as you call it, you have no idea what those things are."

"Do you really think that?" Harry queried. Something she had just said rubbed him the wrong way. "That you're better than everyone else?"

"Yes," she replied succinctly. "But not because my parents and my sister have told me that since I was a child. I think I'm better than everyone else because it is a fact. And it's a fact because I strive to be better, therefore I am. You're not the best if someone has to tell you that you are. You're the best when you _know_ you are. And I know I am."

"I don't think I've met anyone so arrogant in my entire life," Hermione said in astonishment.

Bellatrix shrugged, grinning. "Think what you want, but you asked and I gave you an answer. It's not my fault if you don't like it." She turned and left for a third time and she was halfway back to the castle when Harry caught up with her. She cast him a sideways glance and the corner of her lip twitched. "Got away, did you? I'm surprised I can't hear Granger screeching for you to-"

Lips. Warm, chapped, clumsy lips. Those were the lips that stole her next words away. They pressed insistently against hers and she couldn't help but smile. She placed her hands over the ones that held the sides of her face and let them travel up his arms until she was able to grip them and pull his body closer.

"That was unexpected," she murmured against his lips when breathing became a problem. Neither pulled away completely, instead leaning their foreheads together.

"I like you," Harry blurted, breathing deeply.

She pulled her face away to chuckle, but kept their bodies close. "Yes, I caught that much."

He shook his head. "No, I mean, I like you more… because of what you said. And I don't know why."

"I'd say it's because you have a self-assured girlfriend, but somehow I don't think that's it," she joked, before looking around for any other students. "You know, we're supposed to be keeping this a secret and we can't do that if you're going to go around kissing me in public like that."

"I know. I'm sorry. I just couldn't help it." His voice took on a sheepish tone as he said that.

She smiled gently. "Don't apologize for kissing me. Just be more careful the next time the urge arises."

"Yes, ma'am," he laughed.

She rolled her eyes, grabbed his hand and started for the castle again. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"The library," she almost sang. He groaned.

Unfortunately for Harry, his girlfriend didn't feel the need to cease her reading until it was nearly dinner time. The two were rushing down the corridor, attempting to make it to dinner on time, when they heard a voice.

"_Come… come… to me… Come to me."_

Both second years stopped in their tracks and Harry looked around for the source of the voice. "Did you hear that?"

"_Blood. I smell blood…"_

"I hear it," she said, moving to the walls. "Barely."

"_Let me rip you…"_

"It's coming from the walls," she announced quietly, following the eerie voice. "What _is_ that?"

"_Let me kill you."_

"No idea," he whispered, trailing behind her.

"_Kill. Kill! Kill!"_

The two sped up around a corner at the sound of the last three commands and almost ran straight into Ron and Hermione.

"Harry!" Hermione cried in relief.

"Did you hear it?" He questioned, craning his neck around as if the owner of the voice would appear at will.

"Hear what?" She asked.

"That voice," Bellatrix supplied, running her tiny hands along the walls. What on earth had she just heard?

"Voice? What voice?" She wondered.

"We were just coming from the library when we heard a strange voice. It didn't sound at all human. In fact, it sounded thirsty for blood," the Slytherin informed them, seeming much calmer than the boy beside her.

"A vampire," Ron exclaimed. "You think there's a vampire in Hogwarts?"

"I never said that," she said. "I doubt it's a vampire. It was coming from the walls. Last I heard, vampires don't lurk in walls."

"_It's time."_

"It's moving," she muttered to Harry.

"I think it's going to kill," he said before taking off down the corridor.

"Harry, wait," she called to him, unwilling to run after something only the two of them seemed to be able to hear. He either ignored her or didn't hear her as he kept on running. She quickened her pace to a brisk walk and caught up to the three of them.

… and a perfect line of spiders exiting the castle.

… and a creepy message written in blood on the wall.

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, beware," Hermione read. "It's written in blood."

"An astute observation, but that's not the most interesting part," Bellatrix told them and the trio turned and looked toward where she was pointing. It was Mrs. Norris. Hanging by her tail. Still as a statue.

And leave it to the entire school to show up _after_ they've discovered the cat. And leave it to Draco to make an asinine comment about Mudbloods. And leave it to Filch to accuse Harry of killing his cat. And leave it to Dumbledore to diffuse the situation and dismiss all the students except Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Bellatrix.

"She's not dead, Argus," Dumbledore assured Filch. "She has been petrified."

"Ah, thought so," Lockhart jumped in. "So unlucky I wasn't there."

"Stop speaking." Bellatrix phrased in it a way that it sounded almost like a plea, rather than a command. "And how did she become to be… petrified?"

"I cannot say," the headmaster frowned apologetically.

"Ask him," Filched pointed at Harry. "He's the one that's done it. You saw what he wrote on the wall."

"Must this foolishness continue?" Bellatrix uttered under her breath. "No one has ever gone near your cat, Mr. Filch."

"Headmaster, if I may," Snape chimed in, staring down the four of them. "Perhaps Potter and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, the circumstances are suspicious."

Bellatrix scoffed. "Hardly. If you'd just ask us how we got here, we'd tell you just as easily as you'd all jump to your own conclusions."

"Go on," her head of house prompted.

"Harry and I had been at the library studying all afternoon. We were late to dinner, which is why I assume Hermione and Ron were out looking for him. They'd just found us when we said that we weren't very hungry. I was walking them back to their common room when we found Mrs. Norris." And she didn't bat an eyelash at any of her lies. "Besides, it's not like you can prove we did anything, which we didn't. And from what I've learned in Herbology, Mrs. Norris can be cured with Mandrake, right?"

Madame Sprout nodded. "Yes, she can."

"So there, problem solved," the young pureblood declared. "Well, solved until you find out how this happened in the first place."

"Yes," the headmaster concurred, scrutinizing the four students before him. "But in the meantime, I strongly recommend caution… to all."

The Gryffindor trio nodded while Bellatrix suddenly appeared to be vaguely uninterested.

* * *

_If it's the only chance, then get ready to throw your shoes away for I will sweep, sweep, sweep you off your feet._

* * *

**So, there's that chapter. I like it. I hope you guys like it. It was interesting for me to write. And in case anyone is wondering, I like Hermione and Ron and you will be seeing more of them, I promise. **

**Lyrics: Little Romance by Ingrid Michaelson**

**Review, per favore.**

**~Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**


	9. Elephants As Big As Whales

Tethered to the Story We Must Tell  
Chapter 9: Elephant As Big As Whales

_Your name is on everything you do. Well, so is mine._

* * *

"Well, that was odd," Bellatrix commented lowly as the four of them rushed through the staircases to get to their respective common rooms.

"Odd?" Harry questioned, confusion tainting his voice.

Hermione whirled around to look at the two of them. "You hear this voice, a voice only you two can hear… and then Mrs. Norris turns up petrified. It's very odd."

"Actually, I only barely heard the voice," Bellatrix said. "It was more of a faint whisper than anything else."

"Do you think I should've told the professors?" He wondered.

"Definitely not," the other three replied automatically.

"Even in the wizarding world, hearing voices isn't a good sign," Hermione warned.

"But Bella heard it as well," he pointed out.

"That is true," she conceded reluctantly. "Maybe we can keep this to ourselves and if either of you hears the voice again, we can tell someone."

"Sounds like a plan," the other girl agreed just as they stopped outside the entrance of the Gryffindor common room. She reached out discreetly and gave Harry's hand a light squeeze. "I'm off to bed. Let me know if anything else… odd happens." She twirled around and bounced away with an almost amused countenance.

"Tell me why we're friends with her again," Ron directed this to Harry.

"Because she's different," he answered with a silly grin. "And I like different."

* * *

"So…" Hermione whipped her head around to find an amused looking Bellatrix Black. The muggleborn rolled her eyes. She should've known. If she didn't think the other girl was so annoying, she'd ask her how she got around so quietly all the time. Bellatrix, with a grin, sat down across from Hermione and made sure no others in the library could hear them. "The Chamber of Secrets, hmm?"

"What do you want?" The bushy haired Gryffindor demanded.

"To talk to you, of course," she answered, making herself comfortable.

"And what makes you think I want to talk to you?" Hermione frowned.

"Harry." Bellatrix let her face relax in a self-satisfying smirk when the other girl's frown deepened. "You and I both know he wants us to at least pretend to get along. I have no problem with that particular request. However, for me to fulfill it, I'm going to need to know what your problem with me is."

She balked. "I don't have a-"

"We both know you're not a well accomplished liar, Granger. There's no need to try to start now," the dark haired girl interrupted, dark eyes twinkling mischievously. She didn't come to argue or to make any accusations. She just wanted to try to settle whatever it was between the two of them so she could tell Harry that she'd at least made the attempt. She would worry later about why she cared enough to do that. "So what do you have against me?"

"I am _not_ having this conversation with you," Hermione huffed, refusing to share any insecurity she had, especially not with the cause of so many of them. She just wouldn't do it.

"Why ever not?" She inquired, seemingly innocent in her questioning. "I'm trying to play nice and you're denying me the opportunity. That doesn't seem very Gryffindor-ish of you."

"What makes you think you'll be around Harry long enough that you and I will need to get along?" The question was snapped and impatient.

"What makes you think _you_ will?" Bellatrix countered easily and grinned when the other girl didn't have an immediate comeback. "My presence in Harry's life has so far been deemed indefinite, but I can tell you that I will be around for the foreseeable future. The sooner you start accepting that, the sooner we can move on from this mutual animosity. And the sooner you realize that I'm not, and do not have the desire to plot against you, the sooner you will realize that at this point, I will be an in-expendable ally."

"Ally?" Hermione questioned suspiciously.

Suddenly losing the tension and seriousness of her previous statements, Bellatrix shrugged noncommittally. "Friends, allies, same difference." At the other girl's confused expression, she smirked. "I'm glad that we had this talk."

* * *

"So, you guys are making polyjuice potion I hear," Bellatrix remarked nonchalantly. It was a few days after Hermione, Ron, and Harry had started to brew the concoction, and none of them had actually told her about the potion, but she suspected. She could smell it on their clothes, and she had only been able to detect the smell because her sister was so fond of potions and potion brewing.

Harry glanced up from his homework, startled. "Where'd you hear that?"

She reached over and tapped him on the nose. "My nose. I can smell it on you, but don't worry. It's not very strong. And I only suspected until you confirmed my suspicions when you gave me that look just now." She grinned at him. "You need a better poker face, Potter."

He grumbled unintelligibly, but secretly, he was happy Bellatrix knew what they were up to. He didn't think he'd be good at keeping things from her if he tried. "Do you just know everything?"

"No," she answered immediately. "I'm only twelve. There's a lot I don't know. And a great deal of what I do know can be accredited to a fantastic memory and informative relatives. I don't always get information from books, but that's beside the point. Why are you making polyjuice potion?"

He hesitated and she smiled. Ron and Hermione probably told him to keep it a secret and he was being a good friend. The overwhelming urge to kiss him arose and since they were in a pretty secluded area outside, she gave into that urge. His hands instantly found her waist and he leaned into her. She couldn't help but be pleasantly entertained by his enthusiasm and a giggle erupted from her throat as she broke the short lived lip lock.

"What's funny?" He asked, slightly confused.

"Nothing," she assured him. "You're just sweet."

He was still confused, but he had a feeling she wasn't going to elaborate. "Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?"

She shrugged. "Nothing you don't already know."

"You would tell me if you knew something though, wouldn't you?" Harry saw her hesitate before she nodded, but he wasn't sure he was convinced. "Are you sure you'd tell me?"

Bellatrix was thoughtful for a moment. "I would tell you anything that could help, I think."

"You think?"

"I think you're asking a lot of me," she said matter-of-factly. "And I think I can only give so much. I don't know everything, even if it looks like I do. Looks are only looks."

He was quiet for a long second. "So if you knew anything about the heir of Slytherin, you _think_ you would tell me about him?"

She regarded him with a measured, calculating look. "That's what the polyjuice potion is for, isn't it?"

His face settled in a frustrated pout. "How did you know that?"

"Because I'm smart and you're not as sneaky as you'd like to believe," she said, trying not to smile at his adorable pout. "If you wanted to know about the heir of Slytherin, why didn't you just ask me? You wouldn't have to go through the trouble of brewing the polyjuice."

A hint of color reached his cheeks and turned away. "Ron and Hermione didn't want you to know… in case _you_ were the heir of Slytherin."

"Oh," she murmured, eyes narrowing in consideration. "That's… good thinking. You three were right to try to keep it from me. I _am_ a Slytherin after all. It makes sense. And if it weren't me, you could still assume that I wouldn't sell out a fellow housemate." She paused to look at him. "But it would be nice if you trusted me just a little bit more."

"I do trust you. It's just that Ron and Hermione don't yet. They don't know you as well as I do and they don't really have a reason to trust you," he expounded carefully, not wanting to upset her. "Except that I trust you."

She placed her hand on his arm reassuringly. "That's okay. Maybe it's better that they don't trust me yet."

"Why do you say that?" He inquired.

"It just might be better," she repeated, shrugging off his question. She then fixed him with a slight smile. "So are you ready to get your behind handed to you in the Quidditch match tomorrow?"

He allowed his eyes to meet hers. She kept his gaze for a moment before he got the shock of his life. A tint of pink touched her cheeks and she turned away, shyly.

Just when he thought he knew her.

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me," Bellatrix mumbled irritably as she watched the Bludger race after her boyfriend. "Could he possibly attract more trouble?" She wondered out loud as she elbowed her way toward her brother-in-law. "Interesting view from here," she commented idly.

"_Quite_ an interesting view," he concurred, sparing her a sideways glance.

"You're enjoying this, no doubt."

"Immensely," he almost smiled and she rolled her eyes. He was so predictable.

As she moved toward the Gryffindor section Bellatrix made sure to keep an eye on the Bludger. And Harry… who was after the snitch. _Of course he is_, she couldn't help but think. Harry certainly was something. When she finally made it to Ron and Hermione, she could see that they were anxious, but unable to help their friend.

"Why don't you blow it up?" She suggested after a few silent moments of watching the Bludger continue to chase Harry. It was gaining speed, quickly, and if someone didn't do something soon, it would more than likely smash his skull open.

"It's too risky! I've already told Ron as much," Hermione nearly growled at her. "We need to find another way."

"You do realize that while you're trying to figure one out the Bludger will have gained enough speed to pulverize Harry, correct?" She knew it was harsh, but it was necessary.

"Harry could get hit by the spell," the brunette protested.

The violet eyed girl nodded, conceding that point. "He could, but I think it's worth the risk." Besides, Harry was becoming too focused on the snitch. And the Bludger was still accelerating. Without waiting for an acceptance of her plan, Bellatrix leaned over the rail and shouted. "_Harry!_"

Harry's head whipped around at the sound of her voice and their eyes caught for a split second before he went tumbling off of his broom, landing safely in the sand waiting two feet below him. The Bludger rose high in the air before it began to rocket down toward him at an amazing speed.

"Now, Hermione!" Bellatrix commanded.

The Gryffindor girl took out her wand and aimed. "_Finite Incantatem!"_ The Bludger exploded in a display of unimpressive fireworks. She sagged in relief and glared at Bellatrix.

But the Slytherin wasn't paying attention. She was staring at Harry with the oddest little smile on her face while she shook her head. "That infuriating Gryffindor." She chuckled in disbelief as she watched Harry hold up the snitch, triumph reflected in his grin.

"Harry Potter has caught the snitch! Gryffindor wins!"

"Of course Gryffindor wins," she muttered as she stared. "Gryffindor always wins."

* * *

Harry found her sitting alone under a large tree staring out at the Black Lake.

"I spoke to Dobby again," he said, standing over her. She frowned heavily, but didn't look at him. "He sent the Bludger after me." She sighed, but otherwise remained unresponsive. "He said he did it because it was danger for me to be at Hogwarts this year." Her upper lip twitched, but he didn't notice. "He said that he told you and you told him to leave it alone. He said that you told him that you knew it was dangerous and you would figure it out." Here, he paused to take a breath. "Figure it out?!"

Her face betrayed nothing, but her eyes danced. "What would you like me to say?"

"I would like you to tell me why you didn't warn me about all this in the first place," he yelled. "If you knew it was dangerous for me to be here, why wouldn't you say something?"

"Would it have made a difference?" She questioned calmly. "When Dobby warned you of the danger that night in your dormitory and he told you to leave Hogwarts, what did you say?"

He hesitated. "Hogwarts is my home. It's where I belong."

"Then what would have been the point of me mentioning anything?" She queried.

"The point is," he began in a shout, but soon deflated because his anger was giving way to the hurt he had been trying to hide. And she still hadn't even so much as glanced at him. "The point is that I should be able to trust you to tell me things like that. Especially if it's regarding my safety."

She decided not to point out that he barely trusted her enough to let her in on what he and his friends were planning. "Do you honestly think I would let anything happen to you?" She finally turned her head to face him, smiling softly. "I told you, Harry. I don't know everything, but I know enough to protect you."

"I don't think you would let anything happen to me," he said. And he fully believed that. "But why are you so unwilling to tell me what you know?"

"Because I don't know anything," she admitted quietly and her gaze found its way back to the lake."I'm only twelve, Harry. I know I act and sound older than that, but that's how I was raised; to be mature and always act like I know what's happening, even when I don't."

He sighed and sat down directly across from her, but didn't block her view of the water. "Why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

She scoffed at him. "I'm a pureblood. Admitting I have a toothache is a sign of weakness. I don't operate the same way you do. I have to play the part of the omnipotent one or I will be eaten alive by my fellow purebloods. And when you go your whole life being told to act like you're better, act like you're the smartest, act like you know every goddamn thing in the world… well, it sticks. I don't _act_ any sort of way now. I just am.

"And admitting that I'm feeling overwhelmed or scared or anything of that nature is not an option for me. That's not who I am and that's not who I want to be. And I find it incredibly frustrating that I have to keep explaining myself to you, but it's not because I don't want to. It's because I _do_ want to."

Harry was silent, processing the information. He knew that he and Bellatrix had very different upbringings and he knew that she came from a higher social standing than he did. He also knew some of the purebloods in other houses and his own house who were nothing like the Slytherins. But then he knew that Bellatrix came from a very old, very dark family, and they may put expectations on her that other pureblood families don't put on their children.

It was hard to stay angry with her when he knew she was trying to protect him, even though she had no reason to. She had nothing to gain from protecting him and that went against everything she was ever taught. He knew that and he was unbearably thankful for it. There were no words he could think of to properly convey that he was grateful for her so instead of saying anything, he kissed her lips. Over and over and over.

Until she started laughing.

"What else did Dobby say to you?" She asked after the ninth kiss.

"Huh?" She had switched subjects so violently, he was unable to keep up and thus, he was confused.

She smiled against his lips at his confusion. "I want to know if Dobby said anything else to you." She pushed him away a few inches so he could see the expectant look on her face.

He tilted his head in consideration. "He said that terrible things were going to happen at Hogwarts," he repeated the information he had heard from the house elf.

She pursed her lips and leaned back, further away from Harry's now pouting lips. "Hmm."

He was unable to respond because a shout cut him off and two figures were approaching them rapidly. He offered a wave while he and Bellatrix waited for them in silence. Well, almost silence.

"Your face is flushed, Harry."

"Oh for heaven's sake, don't be so smug," he hissed and raised his hands to his cheeks as if to rub away his blush. Bellatrix failed to stifle a giggle, which only caused his blushing to increase.

"Harry, something's happened," Hermione panted once she and Ron had reached the couple. They had run all the way from the Great Hall once they'd heard the news. "Something bad."

"What is it?" The dark haired boy questioned, standing up before he realized what he was doing.

"It's Collin," Ron said. "He's been Petrified."

"What happened?" He demanded to know as Bellatrix climbed to her feet as well. The four of them began to rush back toward the building as they spoke.

Hermione shook her head. "All we know is that he was taking a picture when he was attacked. He was still holding his camera when they found him."

"How interesting," Bellatrix commented, causing both of Harry's friends to start as if they hadn't noticed she was with him. She couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes at that. They were going to have to get used to her sooner or later. "You do realize what this means, don't you?" When she was met with three blank stares, she sighed. "Hogwarts is no longer safe. And it might mean something else as well."

"Like what?" Ron wanted to know.

"I think…" she trailed off softly, her eyes growing misty and unfocused for several long moments before she blinked hard and continued. "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened again."

"Again?" The redheaded Gryffindor parroted. "You mean the Chamber has been opened before?"

"That's what I've been told at least," she amended slightly.

"We need to find out who's behind these attacks now," Harry said, his brow creasing in obvious distress.

While the other two Gryffindor's had their backs turned to them Bellatrix reached over to smooth out the wrinkles in Harry's forehead with her index finger. He smiled gratefully and caught her hand to squeeze it before letting it drop back to her side.

"Well, we'll have to wait for the-" The bushy haired girl stopped talking so abruptly that Bellatrix would have laughed if not for the seriousness of their conversation.

"The Polyjuice Potion," the onyx haired girl finished for her.

"Harry," Ron protested, glaring in his friend's direction.

"I didn't tell her!" Harry defended. "I only… confirmed her suspicions."

"You knew?" Hermione turned to look at Bellatrix. "How did you know?"

The other girl shrugged noncommittally. "No one else knows if that's what you're worried about. And if they do, they've decided not to say anything about it."

"How is it that you know everything?" Ron inquired, exasperated. Every time they tried to hide something from her, she already knew about it. It was extremely frustrating.

"I'm a seer," she supplied helpfully and the trio turned their dubious stared on her. "The gift of foresight runs in my family. I have it, my mother has it, my uncle had it. It's nothing concrete and I'm still trying to control it, but it does provide me with a rough idea of things that could happen. And by the way, I don't know everything. You just don't know as much as I do."

"You're a seer?" Of course she was a seer, Hermione grumbled in her head. She had everything else in the world, so why wouldn't she be a bloody seer as well?

"That I am," Bellatrix affirmed. "And please don't ask why I never told you all before. That question gets old after a while."

"What's it like?" Harry wondered. "Being a seer?"

"It's like being a normal person, but being able to see the future," she drawled, smirking lazily at him.

"Normal?" He raised an eyebrow in a move that was decidedly Bellatrix-like.

She rolled her lavender eyes. "Oh, ha ha."

Ron and Hermione shared a glance.

* * *

If there was one thing Bellatrix hated about being related to the Malfoys, it was that Draco believed that it gave him the right to speak to her any way he chose, any time he chose to. Normally that wouldn't bother too much as she had been dealing with it since Draco was able to talk. And in fact, she wasn't too incredibly bothered by his blithering at the moment either. No, that wasn't it. It was the fact that he had been talking to her for the past hour and she was more than positive if he didn't shut up soon, she would throw her book (her rather large book) at his face.

"I can't believe you're still hanging out with Potter and his little friends," he commented, sneering in disgust.

Bellatrix had to stop her surprise from overtaking her face. She had not been paying attention to his words, but was instead focusing all of her energy on keeping her book firmly in her hands. As a result, her hands were now trembling with the effort it took. She had to take a minute to get back to herself and respond. "Well, it's been a year; you should be able to believe it by now. And you do know that you're no taller than any of them, right?"

Draco either didn't hear the second part, or, and this was likely the case, he was ignoring it. "What are you after?"

She gazed at him with big, innocent eyes that might have fooled him if he hadn't known her his whole life. "What do you mean?"

He scoffed at her. "Don't try that on me, Bellatrix. It won't work. I know you. Why are you friends with Potter? What do you get out of it?"

The question was not wholly unexpected and with lack of anything better to do, she told him the truth. "I'm not sure yet." Her voice was quiet, distant and dreamy. "But even if I did," she allowed her voice to harden when she said this, "what makes you think I'd tell you?"

The blonde narrowed his eyes at her briefly before he settled back in his seat. "You don't really believe the rumors, do you? That he's the heir of Slytherin?"

Her eyes swung in her head and she sucked in a breath through her clenched teeth. If she had to hear about those ridiculous rumors one more time… "I don't think I know what I think about this whole Chamber of Secrets thing. And no, that's not an invitation for you to tell me your opinion on the subject again. I've heard it enough."

"If you don't know what you're doing with Potter-"

She interrupted him swiftly. "I don't think I remember saying anything of the sort. I _always_ know what I'm doing."

* * *

_Through your uneven footsteps you found tolerance and cleanliness and I found you._

* * *

**All right. That was chapter nine. I'm not going to apologize for my lengthy absence. I had some shit going on and I couldn't write in the story for a while, but I have picked it back up. I do want to make one thing very clear: I'm never abandoning this story. **

**Also, there are two Wicked references. One is from the book and one is from the musical. Kudos to anyone that can find them!**

**Lyrics: Elephants As Big As Whales by PlayRadioPlay**

**Review, per favore.**

**~Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**


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